A Time Of Calm - A Coin Of Probus

Peace was a rare commodity in the Roman World, so any cessation of hostilities foreign and domestic, however short-lived, was worth commemorating.

Obverse: IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG (Imperator, Caesar, Marcus Aurelius Probus, Pius Felix Augustus) Radiate, Draped Bust of Emperor Probus right.

Reverse: CLEMENTIA TEMP (Clementia Temporum - a time of peace and calm) The Emperor standing right, holding Scepter, receiving Winged Victory on Globe from Jupiter, standing left and also holding Scepter.

The B in the lower center is the Antioch Mint Officina mark, and the XXI in exergue is not a mint mark, but instead a value marking. It means the coin was made from a ratio of 20 parts bronze to 1 part silver, or 5% Silver.

This antoninianus is in practically uncirculated condition with full silvering, just as an inhabitant of the Imperium Romanum would have seen it when freshly minted. The portrait of the emperor is nice and crisp with excellent detail. Lovely condition for a coin that's over 1,700 years old.

Compared to the prior coin that has had significantly more wear over time with the silver wash worn away and with it showing the bronze underneath.

In the throes of the high inflation that gripped the Roman world at the time, millions of these coins were minted to keep up with the demand for money. Many have survived in everything from miserable to excellent condition and all stages in between, and are easily obtainable for a starting collector of Roman coins.

Not So Semper FIDES - A Coin Of Probus

Obverse: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG. (Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Probus Augustus) Large bust of the Emperor in armor facing right and wearing a double diadem.

Reverse: FIDES MILITVM. (The loyalty of the Armies) III in exerge. Personification of Fides standing facing right, holding a legionary standard in each hand.

Mint mark is III for the Lugdunum mint in Gaul, today known as Lyon. The III indicates the third officinae produced this coin.

The loyalty of the armies was of paramount concern to a Roman emperor, especially in the third century when they were keenly aware of how often emperors were overthrown my their own legions. After all, Probus had just led his army to overthrow the prior emperor Florian in 276 just three months after Florian had been elevated to the purple.

Since much of the monies minted in this period was for legionary pay, propagandizing the military virtues of the emperor, his victories against enemies of Rome, and appealing to the loyalty of the armies as in this coin were very necessary endeavors.

Unfortunately, in 282 AD, the loyalty of the armies to Probus ran out and he was murdered by his own soldiers in Sirmium.

This is an interesting reverse variation because most of the cataloged coins of the Fides Militvm series have Fides facing left, not right.

Quick! The Emperor Probus Is Coming. Look Busy.

The Emperor Probus was quite a mobile emperor.

Obverse: IMP PROBVS AVG. (Imperator Probus Augustus). Emperor facing right in armor with double diadem.

Reverse: ADVENTVS AVG (The arrival of the Augustus). Emperor on horseback facing left, right hand raised in greeting, left hand holding a scepter, captive at the horse's front feet and RXZ in exerge.

The Mint Mark R(star)Z is for (R) Rome, Z is zeta or seventh officinae, the mint sub-office where the coin was minted, and the star is a control mark. The green flecks you see on the reverse is verdigris, the result of the underlying bronze being exposed to air for a long time, in this case about 1737 years.

The Adventus series of coins commemorate the visit of the emperor to the city designated in the mint mark of the coin. In this case, the coin was minted for his arrival to Rome in 277 AD.

Other cities featured in the Adventus series include Ticinum (Italy), Siscia (Croatia), Lugdunum (in Gaul), Serdica (now Sofia, Bulgaria), and Cyzicus (western Turkey), which indicates a fair bit of traveling for the Emperor.

Coins of Probus are very fun (and affordable) to collect. There's lots to choose from given the variety of types, legends and symbols that appear on his coins. There are 12 different obverse legends alone, and the emperor can be depicted in various types of armor, helmet and weapons, and that's just on the obverse of the coin. On the reverse are multiple types and lots of different mint marks and legends.

The Virtus Of The Emperor - A Coin Of Probus

Virtus in this case meaning the personification of the military virtues of manliness, courage and virtue. These virtues were vital for a third century Roman emperor to display and propagandize, lest his subordinates consider replacing him with someone more virtuous.

Obverse: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG. (Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Probus Augustus) Emperor in armor facing left, wearing double diadem and carrying a spear.

Reverse: VIRTVS PROBI AVG. Virtue walking right, carrying a spear and trophy, Q in the right lower field.

The obverse of the coin shows the Emperor in later roman armor, carrying a spear showing his military virtues, and wearing the double diadem that marks the coin as a double denarius, today known as the antoninianus.

On this coin, the bronze can be seen beneath silver wash on the obverse, but the details of the emperor and his armor remain nice and sharp. A fair amount of the silver wash remains on the reverse with only a few bits of bronze showing through the silver.

This coin, from the Ticium mint, which has a mint mark of XXI. Just like the previous coin of Probus from the mint of Rome, it also has a letter from the word AEQVITI added to the coin's reverse, in this case a Q.

The obverse legend is interesting - Probus a third-century emperor who reigned from 276-282 A.D., is titled as Imperator or emperor, Caesar and Augustus - tying himself to the glory and power of Rome's first emperor and imperial dynasty.

Beating On the Germans - A Coin Of Probus

It's been quite awhile since I did an ancient coin post.

Next in the series is a coin of the Roman Emperor Probus.

Marcus Aurelius Probus was emperor of Rome from 276-282 AD. As typical for many of the later Roman emperors, he wasn't born in Rome but instead in the city of Sirmium a city in Roman Pannonia, located in what is northern Serbia and the current city of Sremska Mitrovica is located right on top of it. So much on top of it in fact that right beneath the city center is the only known unexcavated Roman hippodrome, a huge building 150 meters wide by 450 meters in length. Unexcavated to this day as they'd have to rip up much of the existing city center to get to it. Sirmium was a very important roman city and made some major cultural contributions to Roman life and indeed nine emperors were born there and many others born near or were proclaimed emperor there.

An emperor in this period needed to display military prowess, and there was no better way to show those abilities than beating back a Germanic tribe or two from the Roman Empire's limes.

The reverse: Victoria Germ. Two captives seated at the foot of a trophy. RAA in exerge.

The Obverse: Probus P F AVG. The emperor's radiate and cuirassed bust facing right.

Sear 3375.

While the coin proclaimed victory over the Germans, and Probus did win many battles against them, the reality of the overall strategic situation was quite different. Under Probus, while there were considerable military victories, the Romans began withdrawing from their fortifications along the Limes Germaicus and abandoned the Agri Decumates area of the Roman province of Germania Superior and retreated to move defensible positions along the Rhine and the Danube rivers.

Probus also worked on revitalizing the Roman economy but came to an early end. In 282 AD at Sirmium, the town of his birth, he was murdered by a bunch of mutinous soldiers who were angry at having been ordered to do construction on public works rather than military duties.

Inflation in the Roman Empire in this period has reduced the Antoninianus to a silver-washed piece of bronze. On this coin, while it weighs 3.92 grams, you can see the bronze coin through the areas where the silver plating has worn away over time and the weight is bronze not silver.

There's also an interesting factoid about some of the coins of Probus. He, or his mint-masters, liked to throw single letters of the word AEQVITI, or equity, on coins.

In the case of this coin, there's an added A found in the mint-mark. The RA of the mark stands for Rome (R), first workshop (A), so we know this coin was minted at Rome itself. The extra A is for the beginning of the word AEQVITI.

Interestingly enough these extra initials only appear on coins struck at the Rome or Ticium mints (mint-mark XXI) and none of the other mints operating during that period. Get enough coins of Probus from Rome and Ticium, and you can gather the extra letters, which are often found in the legend or on the field of the coin and spell AEQVITI at your leisure and feel very equitable while doing so. Why these two mints put that code in the series of coins is unexplained as is why it was limited to only those two mints and what the point was of adding them to the series of coins.

A nice coin commemorating a Roman victory while holding part of a hidden codeword and thereby presenting an interesting lost mystery to history.