Aurelian, 270-275, Antoninianus

Aurelian, antoninianus, billon (BI), AD 270–275, Tripolis mint, 4.03 g, 22 mm. Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Aurelian right. Reverse: SOLI INVICTO, Sol standing left, right hand raised in salute and holding globe in left. Struck coinage of the late third-century radiate series, produced from engraved dies on a compact flan. RIC V (Aurelian) 390.

Issued during Aurelian’s reign in the Crisis of the Third Century, this type reflects the emperor’s promotion of Sol Invictus as a unifying imperial cult alongside his military restoration of central authority. The Tripolis mint in Syria contributed to supplying coinage for the eastern provinces during a period of intensive campaigning and administrative consolidation, and the SOLI INVICTO reverse aligns with Aurelian’s broader religious and ideological program that culminated in the formal elevation of Sol at Rome.