Gallienus, 253-268. Antoninianus (Silver, 21 mm, 4.33 g, 3 h), reverse brockage mint error, Cologne, circa 257-258. GALLIENVS•P•F•AVG Radiate and cuirassed bust of Gallienus to right. Rev. Incuse of reverse (!). A highly unusual and exceedingly rare reverse brockage mint error coupled with a correctly struck obverse. Extremely fine.



This highly unusual piece shows on the reverse an incuse, mirror-image impression of Victory standing left on a globe, with two captives, together with the legend VICT [GERMAN]ICA. It is a special variant of the well-known brockage errors: normally, the previously struck coin remains stuck in one of the dies — usually the upper reverse die, more rarely the obverse die — and leaves an incuse impression on the next coin struck. Brockage errors therefore almost always show the same design on both sides, once incuse and once in normal relief. Here, however, the coin that produced the incuse impression had flipped before the second piece was struck, lying with the portrait facing upward and Victory facing downward. The result is an exceptionally unusual coin with a correctly struck portrait on one side and an incuse, mirror-image reverse on the other.