Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Probus, 276-282.
Medallion 281, AV 26.05 g. IMP C PROBVS AVG CONS IIII Jugate busts r. of Probus laureate and cuirassed, wearing imperial mantle, holding eagle-tipped sceptre, and Hercules laureate, wearing lion skin-headdress and holding club. Rev. TRA – IECTVS – AVG Emperor advancing l., crossing on the river Rhine; in l. field, Victory preceding him and holding wreath; in r. field, Mars and in background, two soldiers, holding shields and legionary ensigns. Below, the river-god lying l. in the waves. C –. RIC –. S. Estiot, Probus et les 'Tyrans Minuscules' Proculus et Bonosus. Que dite la Monnaie?, in Historiae Augustae. Colloquium Nanceiense, Bari 2014, fig. 28 (this coin illustrated).
Apparently unique and the only gold medallion of Probus in existence. Undoubtedly one
of the most important and most attractive medallions to have survived from antiquity.
A jugate portrait of enchanting beauty struck in very high relief on
a large flan and an incredibly finely detailed reverse composition.
Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
From a Swiss private collection and notarised in Switzerland on the 1st of October 2003. This coin was the banner of Tkalec AG website in the late 90's.
Upon the death of Tacitus in AD 276, Probus was proclaimed Emperor by the troops he commanded in the East. War was the ultimate result since Florian, the half-brother of Tacitus and incumbent Praetorian Prefect was also hailed emperor by his own troops in the West. The armies of both Emperors entered Cilicia, but Probus refused to engage in open battle and instead used his smaller force to harass Florian's troops and allow the intense summer heat to wear them down. The stratagem was a success and at last, Florian's tired and sweaty officers murdered their Emperor and declared for Probus. Considering the many great difficulties of Probus' reign, it is not entirely clear why he desired the imperial title so badly. In AD 278, Germanic peoples flooded across the Rhine and Danube frontiers into the provinces of Gaul and Germania, forcing the emperor to embark on a grand campaign to drive back the Alamanni, Longiones and Franks. This campaign was so successful that Probus added Germanicus Maximus to his titulature and crossed the Rhine to bring the war to the Germanic homeland. In AD 279– 280, Probus and his generals were focused on defeating the Vandals who had crossed into Raetia and Illyricum as well as the Blemmyes, a nomadic desert people who had invaded Egypt. Although he had enjoyed successes against the barbarians, in AD 280 Probus also had to deal with a new crop of rival emperors: Julius Saturninus in Egypt and Proculus and Bonosus at Lugdunum. Saturninus was soon killed by his own troops and in AD 281 Proculus and Bonosus were betrayed by their Frankish allies and executed. Following the celebration of a grand triumph in Rome, in AD 282 Probus embarked on a new campaign to crush Carus, a Roman military commander in Raetia who had claimed the imperial title. Probus reached Sirmium on his way to confront the usurper where he was unexpectedly murdered by his own troops, either because they decided to join Carus or because they had become disgruntled after Probus lamented the need of retaining a standing Roman army and made use of them to drain marshes and construct other public works. This stunning gold medallion was struck for distribution as a donative, probably in the context of the triumphal celebration of AD 281. The obverse legend dates the piece to the fourth consulship of Probus, which began in December of that year. He is also depicted wearing the robes and holding the scepter of a consul, which points to production in the year of the actual consulship. He became consul for the fifth time in AD 282. The jugate portraits of the obverse represent a high point in the Roman engraver's art in the late third century. Probus appears in the foreground to take up the office of consul while Hercules appears as his companion behind. Hercules was a popular motif for coins struck during the reign of Probus, no doubt because of the many great and dangerous labors that he was compelled to undertake for the defense of the Empire from its numerous internal and external foes. This pairing of the Emperor with Hercules resonated with the Roman army and was later reused when Diocletian established diarchic and then tetrarchic rule over the Empire. Diocletian, the senior Emperor, was regularly characterized as Jupiter while his constant companion and loyal assistant, Maximian, was characterized as Hercules. The very detailed reverse type commemorates the army's crossing of the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge. The Emperor is depicted on the bridge wearing a cuirass and laurel wreath preceded by Victory and followed by a standard bearer, Mars, the Roman god of war, a second cuirassed figure who may be a general or perhaps the personification of Virtus (Roman manliness and bravery)-a common virtue attributed to Roman Emperors.
Medallion 281, AV 26.05 g. IMP C PROBVS AVG CONS IIII Jugate busts r. of Probus laureate and cuirassed, wearing imperial mantle, holding eagle-tipped sceptre, and Hercules laureate, wearing lion skin-headdress and holding club. Rev. TRA – IECTVS – AVG Emperor advancing l., crossing on the river Rhine; in l. field, Victory preceding him and holding wreath; in r. field, Mars and in background, two soldiers, holding shields and legionary ensigns. Below, the river-god lying l. in the waves. C –. RIC –. S. Estiot, Probus et les 'Tyrans Minuscules' Proculus et Bonosus. Que dite la Monnaie?, in Historiae Augustae. Colloquium Nanceiense, Bari 2014, fig. 28 (this coin illustrated).
Apparently unique and the only gold medallion of Probus in existence. Undoubtedly one
of the most important and most attractive medallions to have survived from antiquity.
A jugate portrait of enchanting beauty struck in very high relief on
a large flan and an incredibly finely detailed reverse composition.
Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
From a Swiss private collection and notarised in Switzerland on the 1st of October 2003. This coin was the banner of Tkalec AG website in the late 90's.
Upon the death of Tacitus in AD 276, Probus was proclaimed Emperor by the troops he commanded in the East. War was the ultimate result since Florian, the half-brother of Tacitus and incumbent Praetorian Prefect was also hailed emperor by his own troops in the West. The armies of both Emperors entered Cilicia, but Probus refused to engage in open battle and instead used his smaller force to harass Florian's troops and allow the intense summer heat to wear them down. The stratagem was a success and at last, Florian's tired and sweaty officers murdered their Emperor and declared for Probus. Considering the many great difficulties of Probus' reign, it is not entirely clear why he desired the imperial title so badly. In AD 278, Germanic peoples flooded across the Rhine and Danube frontiers into the provinces of Gaul and Germania, forcing the emperor to embark on a grand campaign to drive back the Alamanni, Longiones and Franks. This campaign was so successful that Probus added Germanicus Maximus to his titulature and crossed the Rhine to bring the war to the Germanic homeland. In AD 279– 280, Probus and his generals were focused on defeating the Vandals who had crossed into Raetia and Illyricum as well as the Blemmyes, a nomadic desert people who had invaded Egypt. Although he had enjoyed successes against the barbarians, in AD 280 Probus also had to deal with a new crop of rival emperors: Julius Saturninus in Egypt and Proculus and Bonosus at Lugdunum. Saturninus was soon killed by his own troops and in AD 281 Proculus and Bonosus were betrayed by their Frankish allies and executed. Following the celebration of a grand triumph in Rome, in AD 282 Probus embarked on a new campaign to crush Carus, a Roman military commander in Raetia who had claimed the imperial title. Probus reached Sirmium on his way to confront the usurper where he was unexpectedly murdered by his own troops, either because they decided to join Carus or because they had become disgruntled after Probus lamented the need of retaining a standing Roman army and made use of them to drain marshes and construct other public works. This stunning gold medallion was struck for distribution as a donative, probably in the context of the triumphal celebration of AD 281. The obverse legend dates the piece to the fourth consulship of Probus, which began in December of that year. He is also depicted wearing the robes and holding the scepter of a consul, which points to production in the year of the actual consulship. He became consul for the fifth time in AD 282. The jugate portraits of the obverse represent a high point in the Roman engraver's art in the late third century. Probus appears in the foreground to take up the office of consul while Hercules appears as his companion behind. Hercules was a popular motif for coins struck during the reign of Probus, no doubt because of the many great and dangerous labors that he was compelled to undertake for the defense of the Empire from its numerous internal and external foes. This pairing of the Emperor with Hercules resonated with the Roman army and was later reused when Diocletian established diarchic and then tetrarchic rule over the Empire. Diocletian, the senior Emperor, was regularly characterized as Jupiter while his constant companion and loyal assistant, Maximian, was characterized as Hercules. The very detailed reverse type commemorates the army's crossing of the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge. The Emperor is depicted on the bridge wearing a cuirass and laurel wreath preceded by Victory and followed by a standard bearer, Mars, the Roman god of war, a second cuirassed figure who may be a general or perhaps the personification of Virtus (Roman manliness and bravery)-a common virtue attributed to Roman Emperors.