Divo Valeriano II, son of Gallienus. Sestertius 258, Æ 18.61 g. DIVO CAES VALERIANO Bareheaded, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. CONSE – CRATIO Prince in frontal biga on funeral pyre, in exergue, S C. C 17 (Saloninus), RIC 35. Göbl pl. 25, 264t.
Very rare. Green patina and good very fine

Ex Roma Numismatics sale IX, 2015, 797. From the George C. Hopkins collection.

When Valerian I and Gallienus came to the throne in 253, the Roman world was in great disorder. Father and son committed themselves to solving Rome’s problems, which at the time included enemy incursions on the Rhine, the Danube and the Euphrates. Valerian I went east to battle the Sasanian king Shapur, and Gallienus remained in the west with his hands full. Though the joint rulership of father and son constituted an instant dynasty, Gallienus found hope for its continuation in his two sons, Valerian II and Saloninus. Gallienus wasted no time in training his eldest son, Valerian II and raising him to rank of Caesar in 256, after which he fought against Germans on the Rhine. There the young Caesar seems to have performed well, and in 258 he accompanied his father on a more urgent campaign against the Goths on the Danube, where he died. We do not know the cause of the death of Valerian II – natural causes or battle injuries are likely possibilities – but its effect was devastating on his proud father Gallienus, who then raised his youngest son, Saloninus, to the rank of Caesar in his place.