Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253, Tetradrachm

Trebonianus Gallus, tetradrachm, AR, reign AD 251–253; Antioch, AD 252; 9.8 g; 25 mm. Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ Γ ΟΥΙΒ ΤΡΕΒ ΓΑΛΛΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ ΥΠΑ ΤΟ Β; eagle standing with wings spread, wreath in beak; S C in field. Struck at Antioch on a broad flan with Greek legends characteristic of the Syrian provincial series. Reference: RPC IX 1827.

This Antiochene tetradrachm represents the principal eastern silver denomination under Trebonianus Gallus, whose reign followed Decius’s death in 251 and ended in 253. The reverse titulature records tribunician power and the second consulship (ΥΠΑ ΤΟ Β), dating the issue to AD 252. Its Greek legends and inclusion of S C reflect the provincial character of Syrian coinage under imperial authority, produced to sustain administration and military needs in the East during ongoing Gothic conflicts and the Cyprianic plague.