Volusian, as Caesar, 251. Antoninianus (Silver, 22 mm, 3.13 g, 7 h), Rome, summer 251. C VIBIO VOLVSIANO CAES Radiate and draped bust of Volusian to right, seen from behind. Rev. PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS Volusian, as prince of the youth, standing front in military attire, head to left, holding baton in his right hand and long scepter in his left. Cohen 100. RIC 134. Very rare. Slightly rough and with a thin flan crack, otherwise, about extremely fine.

The disastrous Roman defeat at Abrittus in mid-251, in which Trajan Decius and his elder son Herennius Etruscus were killed by the Goths, left the surviving prince Hostilian in a precarious position. To general surprise, the new emperor Trebonianus Gallus adopted him and made him co-Augustus, while granting his own son Volusian only the subordinate rank of Caesar, perhaps in order to strengthen his own still fragile claim to power. This unusual arrangement was short-lived, however, as Hostilian died in late summer 251, clearing the way for Volusian’s elevation to Augustus. Although Aurelius Victor and the Epitome de Caesaribus state that Hostilian succumbed to the Plague of Cyprian, the suspicious circumstances of his death led many to suspect that, as Zosimos claims, he was killed on Gallus’ orders. The few coins issued for Volusian as Caesar during this brief period are among the classic rarities of the age