Claudius II Gothicus — Antoninianus, SOL AVG, Antioch

Struck at Antioch between 268 and 270, in the thick of the third-century crisis. Claudius II held the throne for barely two years and took the name Gothicus from his victory over the Goths; Antioch served through his reign as the empire's great eastern mint. The antoninianus by this date was silver in name rather than in substance, a billon piece carrying only a thin surface wash. The radiate crown and the profile stand clear on the flan, the obverse legend still readable in part.

The reverse legend SOL AVG expands to Sol Augusti, the Sun of the Emperor. Sol stands facing left, radiate, his right hand raised in greeting and the charioteer's whip in his left, and the type binds the emperor's authority to the sun god whose cult rose steadily across the third century. The standing figure holds well here, the raised arm, the radiate head and the whip all reading, with the legend softened to fragments by circulation.

Attribution: RIC V Claudius Gothicus 221Mint: AntiochWeight: 3.05 gDiameter: 20 mmCatalogued in the NumisLens cabinet — NL-A7Y0J-266M7

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