Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.               Coin 8 of 10
                           Lot #16 - Gallienus : Aureus
                                     Estimate  US$7850 
]          253-268 AD, Aureus, Rome, 5.88g.
                                      Goebl-530l pl. 45, Gnecchi
                                      Medaglioni pl. 2.9, C-148 (400 Fr.),
                                      RIC-9 (R3). Obv: GALLIENVS AVG Bust
                                      laureate cuirassed l., seen from
                                      front. Rx: DEO AVGVSTO Laureate head
                                      of Divus Augustus r. with features
                                      of Gallienus. Extremely rare,
                                      apparently the fourth recorded
                                      specimen, the other three being (1)
                                      Paris, cited by Cohen from Caylus,
                                      stolen and melted down in 1831, no
                                      longer extant; (2) Parma, mounted in
                                      an ancient pendant, illustrated by
                                      Gnecchi; and (3) the specimen
                                      illustrated by Goebl, said to have
                                      been recovered in the nineteenth
                                      century from an ancient shipwreck.
                                      The Parma and shipwreck specimens
                                      are from the same obverse die as
                                      ours but a different reverse die. We
                                      can deduce from this remarkable
                                      reverse type that Gallienus wanted
                                      to model himself on Augustus, a fact
                                      not attested in the surviving
                                      literary or epigraphical sources. It
                                      is also noteworthy that Augustus is
                                      here called "Deus", a God, rather
                                      than merely "Divus", The Deified.
                                      Exactly when this coin was issued
                                      during Gallienus' sole reign is
                                      uncertain: Delbrueck assigned it to
                                      265 AD but Goebl p. 88 believes it
                                      fits better in the context of
                                      Gallienus' Decennalian issues in 262
                                      AD. The bare-headed portrait and
                                      legend direction of an aureus struck
                                      by Gallienus at Milan, C-207, also
                                      seem to imitate the coinage of
                                      Augustus: see Alfoeldi, Weltkrise,
                                      pp. 52-4. Plamchet rippled in
                                      various places. VF/F+.
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[From an H.J.Berk online auction, early 2001. Re-used by permission.]