Lesser Known Emperors

Not been posting much recently and thought this could be an interesting topic. We all know about the 'common' Emperors who served for a long time or produced vast quantities of coins as many survived but there are lots of other lesser known Emperors who seem to exist 'under the radar' but whose coins are still affordable.

I don't mean the super rare, super expensive coins of people like Laelianus but coins of Emperors some of our beginners might not know about which can be found and found at decent prices.

In just 10 years during the late 3rd century we had the following 'sleepers'.

Claudius II coins have survived in high numbers but after him we had Quintillus (270AD):The brother of Claudius II who ruled for somewhere between 17 and 177 days, the evidence is scant and contradictory unfortunately. Its also not certain how he died, whatever happened he was succeeded by the well know Aurelian the same year.

After Aurelian came Tacitus in late 275AD:Tacitus ruled for just 9 months and died of fever while on the way to quell a Frankish and Alamannic invasion of Gaul. Tacitus the Emperor championed the work of Tacitus the historian, he even claimed lineage to him, were it not for this the historian may not have been as well remembered today.

Marcus Annius Florianus or Florian followed Tacitus in 276AD:Ruled for just 88 days and was reportedly a maternal half-brother to the Emperor Tacitus. Killed by his own unhappy troops after a skirmish with the smaller army of the more experienced general Probus. Probus went on to rule for 7 years leaving us lots of coins to collect.

After the murder of Probus at Sirmium, Carus was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in 282AD, he brought with him his two sons Carinus and Numerian:Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian, he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire, and took Numerian with him on expedition against the Persians. Carus died the following year, his death was variously attributed to disease, the effects of lightning, or a wound received in the Persian campaign, whatever happened Carinus and Numerian succeeded him. Numerian lingered in the East before beginning a retreat back to Rome. In 284 it was reported he was suffering from an 'inflammation of the eyes', and had to travel in a closed coach for the remainder of the retreat. When the army reached Bithynia, some of Numerian's soldiers smelled an odor reminiscent of a decaying corpse emanating from the coach. They opened its curtains. Inside, they found Numerian, dead. Diocletian saw his chance and Carinus would not rule for much longer, again his cause of death is not certain but Diocletian succeeded him and wnet on to rule for over 20 years.

All of the above coins are mine and were picked up for between £10-£25. Hope it was interesting and free to add more 'sleepers' if you know of any.