Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Probus AV 'Heavy' Aureus. Siscia, AD 277. IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / ORIENS AVGVSTI, Sol standing facing, head to left, raising right hand in salutation and holding globe in left; SIS in exergue. RIC V.2 590 var. (obv. legend); C. 392 var. (same); Biaggi 1619 var. (same); Calicó 4171a; LHS 95, lot 843. 7.34g, 23mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only three known examples.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
The aureus was regularly issued from the first century BC until the beginning of the fourth century AD. Initially struck at a weight of approximately 7-8 grams following standardisation by Julius Caesar, the weight declined incrementally throughout the early and mid-imperial periods. Caracalla attempted to curb inflation by introducing new denominations such as the Antoninianus, valued at two denarii, in AD 215 and the binio or double aureus a few years later, which never became a gold denomination of any significant importance. By the time of the Crisis of the Third Century which was characterised by short and violent reigns, gold was in such short supply that the weight of aurei, which became considerably rarer, dropped to just over two grams in some cases. Indeed, the Historiae Augustae Scriptores contains rescripts attributed to Valerian I in which the different aurei in circulation were referred to variously as 'Philippeos nostri vultus' (Philips bearing our likeness) for the common aureus (use of the same term is ascribed to Aurelian for those later aurei which he had restored in weight), 'third-Philips' for lighter-weight gold coins, 'aurei Antoniniani' for coins of the Antonines and Caracalla (superior at the time to any coined since); Gallienus meanwhile is purported to refer to his father's gold coinage as 'aurei Valeriani'. Although much within the Historiae Augustae Scriptores is considered to be of quite questionable accuracy insofar as historical documents were actually written by those claimed to have authored them, it is nonetheless a valuable source. Written during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I, it is evidence firstly of a general awareness that the aureus in the time of Valerian was not of its former weight and quality, and moreover demonstrates that rather than all being referred to as simply 'aurei', the different weights of the coins in circulation had inevitably required that they be treated as different denominations, and so more colloquial names found their way into common parlance, as well as perhaps official usage. It is in this context that this extremely rare 'heavy' aureus, which matches the weight of aurei from the beginning of the empire, should be considered.
Siscia was an important strategic town in Pannonia or modern-day Croatia, built as it was on two navigable rivers. It had been captured by Tiberius and made a colony by Vespasian, but was reinvigorated with fresh colonists during the reign of Septimius Severus and gained an imperial mint under Gallienus when the old Lugdunum mint fell into the possession of the usurper Postumus. The mint was instituted in order to supply money to troops on the border of the Danube, and is characterised by the especially high number of its bronze issues, making this Siscian 'heavy' aureus altogether rarer and of greater numismatic interest.
Less than half a century after this coin was minted, the aureus would fall out of standard issue altogether and be replaced by the lighter solidus of more precise weight as a gold denomination under Constantine I 'the Great', which would continue to be minted in some form for the next five hundred years. Siscia too declined in importance soon after the reign of Probus, and would also be superseded by Sirmium as a place of strategic importance in the region, which would become the imperial base for the tetrarch Galerius.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only three known examples.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
The aureus was regularly issued from the first century BC until the beginning of the fourth century AD. Initially struck at a weight of approximately 7-8 grams following standardisation by Julius Caesar, the weight declined incrementally throughout the early and mid-imperial periods. Caracalla attempted to curb inflation by introducing new denominations such as the Antoninianus, valued at two denarii, in AD 215 and the binio or double aureus a few years later, which never became a gold denomination of any significant importance. By the time of the Crisis of the Third Century which was characterised by short and violent reigns, gold was in such short supply that the weight of aurei, which became considerably rarer, dropped to just over two grams in some cases. Indeed, the Historiae Augustae Scriptores contains rescripts attributed to Valerian I in which the different aurei in circulation were referred to variously as 'Philippeos nostri vultus' (Philips bearing our likeness) for the common aureus (use of the same term is ascribed to Aurelian for those later aurei which he had restored in weight), 'third-Philips' for lighter-weight gold coins, 'aurei Antoniniani' for coins of the Antonines and Caracalla (superior at the time to any coined since); Gallienus meanwhile is purported to refer to his father's gold coinage as 'aurei Valeriani'. Although much within the Historiae Augustae Scriptores is considered to be of quite questionable accuracy insofar as historical documents were actually written by those claimed to have authored them, it is nonetheless a valuable source. Written during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I, it is evidence firstly of a general awareness that the aureus in the time of Valerian was not of its former weight and quality, and moreover demonstrates that rather than all being referred to as simply 'aurei', the different weights of the coins in circulation had inevitably required that they be treated as different denominations, and so more colloquial names found their way into common parlance, as well as perhaps official usage. It is in this context that this extremely rare 'heavy' aureus, which matches the weight of aurei from the beginning of the empire, should be considered.
Siscia was an important strategic town in Pannonia or modern-day Croatia, built as it was on two navigable rivers. It had been captured by Tiberius and made a colony by Vespasian, but was reinvigorated with fresh colonists during the reign of Septimius Severus and gained an imperial mint under Gallienus when the old Lugdunum mint fell into the possession of the usurper Postumus. The mint was instituted in order to supply money to troops on the border of the Danube, and is characterised by the especially high number of its bronze issues, making this Siscian 'heavy' aureus altogether rarer and of greater numismatic interest.
Less than half a century after this coin was minted, the aureus would fall out of standard issue altogether and be replaced by the lighter solidus of more precise weight as a gold denomination under Constantine I 'the Great', which would continue to be minted in some form for the next five hundred years. Siscia too declined in importance soon after the reign of Probus, and would also be superseded by Sirmium as a place of strategic importance in the region, which would become the imperial base for the tetrarch Galerius.