Trebonianus Gallus Ant From Antioch - Sole Reign, Or Decius Mule?

Been a very slow day around here. Thanks for posting this coin. I haven't collected or studied Roman coins for sometime now so I can't answer your question. Now a bad looking coin though.

It raises interesting questions about the ability of messengers to convey news around the Empire. I'd assume that there were dedicated messengers in most major towns, ready to ride out and deliver news. In the context of a military defeat at Abritus, we can assume that at least a handful of soldiers escaped the slaughter (since we have eyewitness accounts of pretty remarkable detail). They would have had to travel to the closest friendly town, whose messengers would spread the word that the emperors were dead. That whole process would most likely take a handful of days to reach Gallus. Then the legions decided to elevate Gallus, which if we recall the case of Macrinus a few decades earlier, took a couple days as they considered candidates.

Then the news would have spread radially from Moesia, probably ahead of the advance of Gallus to Rome. Which makes me wonder - owing to the violent death that awaited Philip II on the ascent of Decius, perhaps everyone assumed that Hostilian would be dispatched in short order? I would also imagine that places like Antioch would have gotten the news of Gallus' succession a few weeks or even months before the news that young Hostilian had been spared. I don't have details on Roman minting operations, but their turnaround time seems to be pretty quick, considering how scarce emperors like Quintillus or Florian have so many coins in their name. Maybe they only needed a couple days to cut fresh obverse legends for the types already made for Decius?