Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253, Tetradrachm

Trebonianus Gallus, Tetradrachm, AR, AD 251–253, Antioch, 11.7 g, 26 mm.

ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ Γ ΟΥΙΒ ΤΡΕΒ ΓΑΛΛΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate and cuirassed bust of Trebonianus Gallus right. ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ; eagle standing facing, head left, wings spread, wreath in beak; S C in field. Struck at Antioch (Syria) on a standard provincial tetradrachm flan by hammered dies. RPC IX 1801. Trebonianus Gallus assumed power after the death of Decius in 251 and ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century, a period marked by external pressure from Gothic incursions and the widespread “Plague of Cyprian.” Antioch served as the principal eastern mint producing Greek‑legend tetradrachms that functioned as the region’s main silver coinage, and the reverse legend ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ records the emperor’s tribunician authority while S C abbreviates senatus consulto. These issues reflect the continued integration of Roman imperial authority with local monetary traditions in the eastern provinces during a time of military and epidemiological strain.