ROMAN. Gallienus. A.D. 253-268. Silver Antoninianus (1.89g). Legionary series. Mediolanum (Milan) mint. 2nd emission, A.D. 260-262. Radiate and cuirassed bust right / LEG V MAC VI P VI F, Victory standing right, holding wreath and palm frond; to right, eagle standing right, head left. RIC V 345; MIR 36, 1004n; RSC 504. Toned, with some porosity. aVF. Legio V Macedonica ranks among the longest-lived of all Roman legions, its story running from the final years of the Republic into the early Byzantine period. It was probably raised around 43 BC as one of the last formations loyal to the Republic, before passing into Octavian's control after the Battle of Mutina. From the 30s BC until A.D. 6, the legion served in Macedonia, and it was from this posting that it took the cognomen Macedonica. It later saw service in Moesia, Cappadocia, Armenia and Judaea, before being established at the fortress of Potaissa in Dacia, modern Romania, in the A.D. 160s, remaining there for well over a century. Vexillations of V Macedonica fought in many campaigns on multiple fronts. When Aurelian evacuated Dacia in A.D. 271, the legion returned to Moesia, though at least one detachment was dispatched to Memphis in Egypt and stayed there down to the Islamic invasion in the later 7th century A.D. The legion's symbols were the bull and the eagle, shown on the reverse here beside Victory.

Estimate: AUD 250