Galba, 68 – 69. Civil war denarius, Gaul uncertain mint (Narbo?), April to late Autumn 68.
Obverse: SER GALBA IMP. Head of Galba, laureate, right; globe at point of neck
Revers: VICTORIA, Victory, naked to waist, standing front, head right, inscribing P R on shield on garlanded column
RIC I (second edition) Galba 99
2,98 gramm
R3
same type: OCRE (all in museums, none in private hands)
"Galba rebelled against Nero very early in April AD 68 at the invitation of Vindex, who had himself rebelled against Nero in Gaul in March. By the middle of May Vindex had been defeatet and killed by the Rhine armies. Galba’s rebellion seemed on the point of collapse. Only the news of Nero’s suicide brought Galba out of hiding. By then the senate had already recocognised him as emperor and he spent some time in Spain before setting out for Gaul. By the beginning of August he was in Narbo and here met a senatorial embassy. Galba then spent more time in Gaul, perhaps visiting Lugdunum and appointing a new governor of the province. He does not appear in Rome until October.
The earliest coin issues the“horseman” type are followed by coins with portraits in a variety of styles, assigned to the mints Tarraco (capitel of Galba’s province), Vienna (the base of Galba’s ally Vindex), Narbo (where Galba met the senatorial delegation) and Lugdunum (the normal western imperial mint city, which Galba may have visited)".
Source: The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage from Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting, 2014
Collection : Roman Imperial Denarii/Antoninianii/Argentii/Siliqua