Antoninianus - Victorinus SPES, Barbarous imitation

Barbarous radiates of this type flooded the northwestern provinces — particularly Britain and Gaul — following the collapse of the Gallic Empire after Tetricus surrendered to Aurelian in 274. With official supply from continental mints effectively severed, local workshops filled the vacuum, copying whatever antoninianii were circulating at the time. Victorinus, who ruled the Gallic Empire from 269 until his murder in 271, was one of the most-copied emperors in this unofficial output, his SPES types among the most frequently imitated.

The granularity of the bronze alloy and the diameter reduction relative to official issues are consistent with progressive copying — each generation struck from a cast of a cast.