Roman antoninianus Barbarous SPES/SALVS hybrid of Claudius II, minted ca.270-280 AD, French find

IMP CL..., Bust of Claudius right / Crude partial inscriptions, Salus (?) standing right, holding snake, lotus flower in the right field. Brown patina, 16mm, 1.28 grams. Nicer than the scan, scarce this nice. From a French hoard.

Interesting piece, with the reverse combining the Salus feeding snake and Spes walking right.

Ancient barbarous radiates seems to have been produced between the reigns of Victorinus and ca.274 AD (after the Gallo-Roman Empire was reincorporated into the Roman Empire), when Aurelian banned the circulation of these small imitative bronzes throughout the Empire. It is likely that at least some of the barbarous radiates were produced after 274 AD all the way into the early 280's. The value of the barbarous imitations was almost certainly not equal to their official counterparts - they probably saw only local limited circulation, and fulfilled the role of token coinage in times of an acute coin shortage.

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