Hostilian, 251. Dupondius (Orichalcum, 25 mm, 10.53 g, 11 h), Rome. IMP CAE C [VAL HOS] MES QVINTVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Hostilian to right. Rev. SALVS / S - C Salus standing front, head left, feeding snake coiled round altar and holding scepter in left hand. Cohen -. RIC -. Sammlung Hohenkubin -. Unique and apparently unpublished save for its previous auction appearance. Some corrosion on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.


The coinage issued for Hostilian Augustus is uniformly rare, but his Dupondii are among the rarest imperial issues of the 3rd Century in general. The authors of RIC knew of no examples, yet Richard Beale reports four Dupondii with three reverse types on his website treating the years 249-253. Although not illustrated, our coin is among them: it is the only example with Salus reverse known to date and was acquired by a Swiss collector in the Münzzentrum Rheinland sale of 2005.