Postumus. Romano-Gallic Emperor, AD 260-269. Denarius (19mm, 2.28 g, 12h). Trier mint. 8th emission, circa early-circa mid AD 268. POSTVMVS PIVS FELIX AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust of Postumus right, seen from front, with fold of drapery on left shoulder, jugate with the laureate head of Hercules / HERCVLI INVICTO, Hercules, nude, standing left, holding club in left hand, lion skin over left arm, right foot on Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons) lying on the ground, taking her girdle from right hand. RIC V.4 373/12 (this coin cited); Schulte 143 (dies Av 83/Rv 98); RSC 123. Darkly toned, porous surfaces, deposits, hairline flan crack. VF. Very rare. This coin shares a reverse die with the aureus of the same type (RIC V.4 374/1).
Ex Peus 417 (2 November 2016), lot 613 (hammer €17,000).
The Ninth Labor of Hercules required him to obtain the golden, magic girdle of Ares, worn by Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Various versions of the story exist, but the most generally accepted version is that Hercules, after defeating the Amazons, killed Hippolyta, removed her girdle (symbol of her power), thus completing his assigned task.
On the reverse of this coin the legend HERCVLI INVICTO is found, meaning “To the unconquered Hercules.” This same legend is found on other Hercules types of Postumus, such as the Cretan bull and the Nemean lion.
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