Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Probus AV Aureus. Siscia, AD 279. VIRTVS PROBI AVG, helmeted and cuirassed bust to right, helmet decorated with Victory driving biga / P M TRI P, Emperor standing in car of slow quadriga to right, laureate and togate, holding eagle-tipped sceptre in left hand and extending right hand with open palm; COS III in exergue. RIC V.2 579 var. (bust to left); C. 453 var. (same); Calicó 4177 var. (same); Hunter 182 (same dies); NAC 105, lot 89 (same dies). 6.32g, 21mm, 7h.
Mint State. Exceedingly Rare; only the third known example and one of just two in private hands.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 120, 6 October 2020, lot 825.
Raised to power by the army, Marcus Aurelius Probus was a product of the Third Century Crisis that saw a marked shift in the paradigm of imperial leadership. No longer did an emperor emerge from a system of succession, either as son or inherited heir of a sitting emperor, instead emperors were chosen by the military based on factors that included popularity, generosity towards the troops and their ability to produce measurable outcomes.
"As a youth Probus became so famed for his bodily strength that by approval of Valerian he received a tribuneship almost before his beard was grown" (Historia Augusta, 3.1). From this early recognition Probus went from strength to strength, becoming one of the highest placed lieutenants of the Emperor Aurelian and then supreme commander of the East under the Emperor Tacitus. Upon the death of Tacitus, Probus was made emperor by the army of Syria in AD 276, having defeated Florianus who too had attempted to ascend the imperial throne. The senate duly acknowledged the exploits of Probus and conferred upon him the names: Caesar, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus as well as granting him Tribunitian power and Proconsular command.
However, the apparent stability granted to Probus by the affirmation of his leadership was not enough to quell the economic and social unrest that continuously threatened peace across the empire. Probus' rule was marked by the threat of both usurpation and of advances from invaders along the borders. This instability made it all the more important for Probus to deliver, at all times, a composite vision of the emperor 'victorious' and we can see this reflected in his coinage. This specimen, of the highest rarity, encapsulates this idea across both its obverse and reverse.
On the reverse Probus stands garbed in ceremonial attire: togate with a laureate crown, he holds an eagle tipped sceptre in one hand and guides a quadriga with calm composure in the other. This composition draws direct parallels with triumphal and consular processions and thereby contributes a formal ritualistic facet to the image of the emperor victorious. On the obverse, the militant dimension of this image is added. Probus is presented as an emperor poised for battle in helmet and cuirass and the decoration of Victory driving biga clearly indicates the likely outcome of any action.
This image of Probus victorious prevails across his coinage and few issues celebrate any specific events, which presents a challenge to numismatists when trying to establish a chronology in his reign. We can however presume that due to the pairing of TRI P with COS III the coin celebrates the third or fourth renewal of his tribunician power due to the unorthodox (but consistent) links between titles across his coinage.
Mint State. Exceedingly Rare; only the third known example and one of just two in private hands.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 120, 6 October 2020, lot 825.
Raised to power by the army, Marcus Aurelius Probus was a product of the Third Century Crisis that saw a marked shift in the paradigm of imperial leadership. No longer did an emperor emerge from a system of succession, either as son or inherited heir of a sitting emperor, instead emperors were chosen by the military based on factors that included popularity, generosity towards the troops and their ability to produce measurable outcomes.
"As a youth Probus became so famed for his bodily strength that by approval of Valerian he received a tribuneship almost before his beard was grown" (Historia Augusta, 3.1). From this early recognition Probus went from strength to strength, becoming one of the highest placed lieutenants of the Emperor Aurelian and then supreme commander of the East under the Emperor Tacitus. Upon the death of Tacitus, Probus was made emperor by the army of Syria in AD 276, having defeated Florianus who too had attempted to ascend the imperial throne. The senate duly acknowledged the exploits of Probus and conferred upon him the names: Caesar, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus as well as granting him Tribunitian power and Proconsular command.
However, the apparent stability granted to Probus by the affirmation of his leadership was not enough to quell the economic and social unrest that continuously threatened peace across the empire. Probus' rule was marked by the threat of both usurpation and of advances from invaders along the borders. This instability made it all the more important for Probus to deliver, at all times, a composite vision of the emperor 'victorious' and we can see this reflected in his coinage. This specimen, of the highest rarity, encapsulates this idea across both its obverse and reverse.
On the reverse Probus stands garbed in ceremonial attire: togate with a laureate crown, he holds an eagle tipped sceptre in one hand and guides a quadriga with calm composure in the other. This composition draws direct parallels with triumphal and consular processions and thereby contributes a formal ritualistic facet to the image of the emperor victorious. On the obverse, the militant dimension of this image is added. Probus is presented as an emperor poised for battle in helmet and cuirass and the decoration of Victory driving biga clearly indicates the likely outcome of any action.
This image of Probus victorious prevails across his coinage and few issues celebrate any specific events, which presents a challenge to numismatists when trying to establish a chronology in his reign. We can however presume that due to the pairing of TRI P with COS III the coin celebrates the third or fourth renewal of his tribunician power due to the unorthodox (but consistent) links between titles across his coinage.