Valerian I, 253 – 260. Aureus 253-254, AV 2.21 g. IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. P M TR P II – COS P P Soldier standing l., holding spear in l. hand and leaning on shield. C 158 var. (only laureate). RIC 27 var. (not cuirassed). Göbl 1a (this coin). Calicó 3435 (this coin). Biaggi 1443 (this coin). Apparently unique. A magnificent portrait of fine style and a lovely reddish tone. Almost invisible marks and flan slightly wavy, otherwise extremely fine This coin published: Gustave Ponton d’Amécourt, ”Monnaies romaines et mérovingiennes exposées au Trocadéro en 1878 », in Annuaire de la Société Française de Numismatique et d’Archéologie, Paris 1880, pl. III no. 6. Karl Menadier, ”Die Münzen und das Münzwesen bei den Scriptores Historia Augustae, Exkurs, Die Goldprägung der valerianisch-gallienischen Zeit”, in Zeitschrift für Numismatik, vol. 31 (1914), pp. 60-144, no. 28. Exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair, 1 May – 10 November 1878. Provenance Viscount Gustave Ponton d'Amécourt (1825-1888) Collection, sold by Rollin & Feuardent, Paris, 25-30 April 1887, lot 508. Leo Biaggi de Blasys (1906-1979) Collection, acquired privately in 1978 by Bank Leu and Marco Ratto. Nelson Bunker Hunt (1926-2014) Collection, sold by Sotheby’s, Zürich, 20 June 1991, lot 874. Prof. Dr. Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928-2014) Collection, sold by G. Hirsch Nachf., Munich, auction 279-280 (”Die Generationensammlung”), 8 February 2012, lot 2679.