ROMAN. Gallienus. A.D. 253-268. Antoninianus (2.46g). Mediolanum (Milan) mint. 2nd emission, A.D. 260-262. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right / LEG XXX VLP VII P VII [F], Neptune standing right, holding trident and dolphin. RIC V 369; MIR 36, 1025r; Toffanin 122/3; RSC 555; Cunetio 1487. Toned, with traces of silvering. aVF. Rare. Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix was raised by Emperor Trajan, circa A.D. 101, as part of the preparations for the Dacian Wars, and it took the emperor's family name, Ulpia. Its conduct in those campaigns later earned the extra title Victrix, meaning Victorious. Following Trajan's eastern operations of A.D. 116-117, the legion is recorded in Pannonia under the command of Quintus Marcius Turbo, a trusted associate and close friend of the future emperor Hadrian. Early in Hadrian's reign it was transferred to Vetera, modern Xanten, in Lower Germany, where it remained based for roughly the next two centuries. There, XXX Ulpia often worked alongside its sister legion, I Minervia, building and maintaining fortifications and civic works along the Rhine frontier, and the resulting inscriptions have left modern scholars an unusually rich trail to follow. Like several other legions named in the coinage of Gallienus, XXX Ulpia is also associated with support for the breakaway Gallo-Roman Empire of Postumus, circa A.D. 260-273, though it is likely that a substantial vexillation stayed loyal to the central government and served within Gallienus' reserve forces at Milan. The final notice of the legion suggests a detachment campaigning in the east against the Persians during the siege of Amida, around A.D. 360, after which the Thirtieth disappears from the historical record. Its principal symbols were Capricorn and Neptune. Acquired from CNG Electronic Auction 461, lot 447 (12 Feb 2020), realised US$250.

Estimate: AUD 300