Valerian I AR Antoninianus, Antioch, AD 253-260, Felicitas AVGG, RIC V 283

Valerian, Antoninianus, silver; reign AD 253–260, struck AD 253–260; Antioch mint; 3.45 g; 22 mm. Obverse: IMP VALERIANVS AVG, radiate, draped bust right. Reverse: FELICITAS AVGG, Felicitas standing left holding caduceus and cornucopiae. Struck at Antioch with beaded borders and no mintmark, fabric of the Eastern series. Reference: RIC V Valerian 283.

Issued during the joint rule of Valerian and Gallienus, this Antioch antoninianus promotes the felicitas of the two Augusti while funding eastern campaigns against the Sasanian Empire. Antioch was the chief Roman base in Syria, captured more than once by Shapur I; the series belongs to the period of military and fiscal stress that saw heavy reliance on the antoninianus, concluding with Valerian’s capture in AD 260.