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Double sesterce - Postume Victoria Aug
| Issuer | Gallic Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 261 |
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| Currency | Antoninianus (260-274) |
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| Obverse description | Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Postumus facing right, portrayed with characteristic realism of the Gallic imperial style. The emperor's effigy displays military paraphernalia including a visible cuirass with detailed relief work. The encircling Latin legend reads IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG, running clockwise around the beaded border. The flan is irregular and somewhat broad, consistent with the hammered double-sesterce denomination struck under the Gallic Empire. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Postumus declared himself emperor in 260 AD after defeating — and almost certainly ordering the murder of — Saloninus, the young son of Gallienus, at Cologne. His breakaway Gallic Empire held together a Rhine frontier that the central Roman government was simply failing to defend, and his coinage reflects a ruler investing in legitimacy rather than improvisation. The double sesterce, a denomination he effectively revived and regularized, was struck in bronze at a moment when silver coinage had debased to the point of near-worthlessness.
Elmer 253 is a well-documented emission from early in his reign, when Postumus's minting operation was at its most prolific.