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Denarius LEGION XV PRIMIG, Victory
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
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| Year | 68-69 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed, youthful male bust facing right, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet pushed back on the head, revealing curling hair beneath the brim; the portrait is rendered in high relief with fine detailing of the helmet's crest and cheek guards. The figure is lightly draped at the shoulder. The encircling Latin legend reads ADSERTOR LIBERTATIS around the field, identifying the imagery with the concept of the liberator or champion of freedom, a prominent propagandistic motif of the civil war coinage of 68–69 AD. |
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| Reverse description | Victory personified stands facing right, her winged figure depicted in flowing drapery, as she places a helmet with her left hand upon a trophy consisting of captured arms and armour arranged upon a tree trunk. The trophy assemblage is rendered with characteristic Roman military iconographic detail. The legend LEGION XV PRIMIG encircles the design, identifying the piece as one of the legionary denarii struck in the name of Legio XV Primigenia during the tumultuous Year of the Four Emperors. |
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Struck in the name of Galba during the chaos of 68–69 AD, this legionary denarius honours Legio XV Primigenia — a Rhine frontier legion with a notably undistinguished record. Raised by Caligula for the German campaigns, the legion surrendered humiliatingly to the Batavian rebels under Civilis in 70 AD and was subsequently disbanded, erased from the Roman order of battle entirely.
The issue itself was almost certainly struck to secure legionary loyalty during the Year of the Four Emperors, when cash donatives were the most reliable form of political persuasion available.