Aurelian (AD 270-275). AV aureus (21mm, 4.18 gm, 1h). NGC MS S 4/5 - 4/5. Rome or Milan, AD 274-275. IMP C L DOM AVRE-LIANVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust of Aurelian right, seen from front / V-IRTVS-AVG, Mars walking right, transverse spear in right hand, trophy in left over shoulder; at foot to right, captive seated right. RIC V.I 15. Calicó 4048. RCV 11498. Crisply struck on a broad flan, with satiny surfaces. From the Morris Collection; Classical Numismatic Group 40 (4 December 1996, in association with Numismatica Ars Classica), lot 1681. The consummate military man, Aurelian is shown here in the fashionable scale-mail armor of the era. Quite appropriate to this militant age, the war god Mars strides forward on the reverse, with a pitiful bound barbarian captive at his feet.

HID99912102018