Aureus - Tetricus I Bust left, VICTORIA

Tetricus I ruled the Gallic Empire from 271 until its forced reintegration by Aurelian at the Battle of Châlons in 274, where — unusually — Tetricus may have deliberately betrayed his own troops to end a reign he found increasingly untenable. Aurelian spared him, appointing him corrector of Lucania rather than executing him.

The "var." designation against RIC V.2 #38 almost certainly reflects the bust orientation. A leftward-facing bust on Gallic Empire aurei is sufficiently uncommon that it registers as a variant rather than a standard issue — most parallel emissions present the bust right.