ROMAN. Gallienus. A.D. 253-268. Antoninianus (2.31g). Legionary series issue. Mediolanum (Milan) mint. 2nd emission, A.D. 261. Radiate and cuirassed bust right / LEG VII CL VI P VI F, bull walking right. RIC V 348; MIR 36, 1006r; Toffanin 101/4; RSC 511. Toned. VF. Legio VII Claudia was founded by Julius Caesar at the outset of his Gallic campaign, circa 58 BC, and remained loyal to him through the hard fighting in Gaul and the civil wars that followed. Its first cognomen, Paterna, is linked to Caesar's title of Pater Patriae (father of the fatherland). Caesar later disbanded the Seventh, circa 45 BC, and settled its veterans near Capua, but after the Ides of March in 44 BC his heir Octavian quickly recalled the veterans and re-formed Legio VII to support his rise to supreme power. Its early imperial postings are not entirely clear, though it likely took part in Augustus' Thracian campaigns and helped secure the Dalmatian frontier after the Varian disaster of A.D. 9. Under Claudius, the legion refused to support a revolt by the governor of Dalmatia and was rewarded with the title Claudia Pia Fidelis (loyal and dutiful Claudian), which it kept thereafter. It eventually became permanently based at Viminacium in Moesia Superior (modern Kostolac, Serbia) and is still recorded there into the late 4th century A.D. Like many legions founded by Caesar, its symbol was his natal sign, the bull. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk Ltd., 1977.

Estimate: AUD 250