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Æ33 - Valerian and Gallienus ΑΡΓΕΙωΝ, Ι-Α
| Issuer | Argos (Achaea) |
|---|---|
| Year | 253-260 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Valerian facing right, depicted in three-quarter front view. The portrait features the characteristic military attire of the period, with paludamentum visible at the shoulder. The encircling Greek legend identifies the emperor by his full Roman name in the nominative case. The flan is broad and irregular, consistent with provincial bronze coinage struck at Argos during the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Perseus standing facing, head averted to the left to avoid the petrifying gaze of Medusa, whose severed head he holds aloft in his lowered right hand. In his left hand he carries the harpa, the hooked sword used to slay the Gorgon, along with the chlamys cloak draped over the arm. The reverse type alludes to the mythological hero Perseus, legendary founder of Argos, making it a quintessential civic type for this Peloponnesian mint. The Greek legend in the field gives the ethnic of the Argives along with a numeral denoting a local era or magistracy. |
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Argos struck bronze coinage under the joint reign of Valerian I and Gallienus during a period of extraordinary imperial instability — barbarian incursions, plague, and military usurpations were fracturing the empire simultaneously. The city's continued civic coinage output reflects the persistence of local Greek municipal minting traditions that survived well into the third century, even as Roman central authority buckled. Argos was among the last Peloponnesian cities to maintain this practice.
The ΙΑ designation in the legend likely indicates a local magistrate or civic official, a convention common to Peloponnesian bronze issues of this period.