Rare - Vabalathus and Aurelian Roman Antoninianus, ancient double denarius coin

This is a lovely Antoninianus coin from the emperor Aurelian with Vabalathus and minted from 270-272AD. Valabathus was emperor of the Palmyrene Empire centred at Palmyra in the region of Syria. Initially, Aurelian recognized Vabalathus' rule, likely because he was engaged in conflict with the Gallic Empire in the west and hesitated to incite open warfare with the Palmyrene Empire. Aurelian is depicted wearing a radiate crown that signifies his supremacy as emperor, and Vaballathus is crowned with a laurel wreath and the Hellenistic royal diadem.

It is in incredible condition for being over 1700 years old with such crisp details and most of the original silvering and would be a fantastic addition to a numismatic collection.

Size: 21mm
Weight: 3.26g

Even at its introduction, the silver content of the antoninianus was only equal to 1.5 denarii. This created inflation, while both buyers and sellers recognized the new coin had a lower intrinsic value and elevated their prices to compensate. Silver bullion supplies began running short because the Roman Empire was no longer conquering new territory, and a series of soldier emperors and usurpers needed coin to pay their troops and buy their loyalty. Each new issue of the antoninianus thus had less silver in it than the last, and thus contributed to ever-increasing inflation.
In 271 AD, Aurelian increased the average weight of the antoninianus an the 'XXI' was first marked on the reverse of the antoninianus which is thought to represent a 20:1 silver ratio (5%).

To give them a nice silver look the coin blanks were fist washed in an acid solution to leech out copper from the surface leaving a thin layer of silver on the surface so when the coin was struck it gave the appearance of a nice silver coin. Some of this silvering on the surface still survives to this day.

Protect and display your coins in style! Coin capsules with stands are also available in my shop and can be conveniently shipped along with any coin purchase.

Please look closely at the photos for the condition and get in touch if you have any questions, I am always happy to help.

If you like these then please check out my other listings, I have a large selection of great coins to choose from.

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