Probus, 276-282. Aureus (Gold, 21 mm, 6.73 g, 6 h), Rome, end of 281. IMP PROB-VS P F AVG Laureate and cuirassed bust of Probus to left, holding spear over his far shoulder in his right hand; breastplate decorated with aegis. Rev. VBIQVE PAX Victory driving biga galloping to right, holding olive branch in her right hand and reins in her left. Calicó 4209. Cohen -. S. Estiot: Les émissions festives de l’atelier de Rome sous le règne de l’empereur Probus, in: NZ 2019, pl. 12, 67.3 (D15/R28). RIC 139. Very rare. A beautiful coin with an attractive portrait of fine style and a very interesting reverse. Small scuff on the reverse edge, otherwise, good extremely fine.


VBIQVE PAX, 'peace everywhere'! - this is what the reverse of this beautiful aureus boldly proclaims. Yet while Roman authorities, like most governments, had a tendency of exaggerating successes and sugar-coating defeats, the message delivered to the public with this very rare emission was not entirely off the mark. Up to this date, Probus and his army had constantly been in the field, fighting off barbarian incursions into the empire, local unrests, and internal revolts alike. However, with the rebellions in Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Syria crushed and the frontiers secured for now, the emperor had every right to be proud of his achievements, and he consequently celebrated a well-deserved triumph in Rome in late 281. It is on this occasion that our coin was issued, and probably handed out to the troops or important officials, forming a beautiful testimony to the highly sophisticated Roman political iconography of the period. Unfortunately for the emperor, however, it was reportedly the very peace he had achieved that would, in a strange twist of fate, lead to his downfall the next year, when he was assassinated by a gang of bored and frustrated legionaries.