Magnus Maximus Pick Up- Should I Start A Usurper Collection?

Nice coin and nice set! Say, that Procopius looks familiar!

Usurpers are a dangerous slippery slope - you're missing Clodius Albinus, Quietus and Macrianus, and then you're getting into some seriously expensive territory.

IIRC, only Magnus Maximus and Julian II issued coins first as usurpers, then as legitimate emperors. All the rest (Vitellius, Vespasian, Severus, Pupienus/Balbinus, Decius, Probus, Diocletian) were "usurper" only for a few weeks or months until the last guy was deposed. IIRC none of them have any coins certainly attributable to a period of usurpation.

Steve, yes I still have that coin! Thank you once again. I do have a Clodius Albinus which was in a lot, but it turned out to be a fake (a very nice one). Seller let me keep it and gave me a discount.


Palouche, I like your idea. Grouped together, they tell a great story. So let's take Magnetius for example.

Constans (I have)
Magnentius (I have)
Decentius (looking)-(brother of Magnentius elevated as Caesar or Augustus to oversee the defence of Gaul and the Rhine.
Nepotianus (not likely)
Constantius II (I have)
Vetranio (I have)

Taken from Encyclopedia Britannica:

"Magnentius was a pagan of German descent who had achieved distinction as a soldier before having himself proclaimed emperor on Jan. 18, 350, at Augustodunum (modern Autun, France). Immediately he engineered the murder of Constans (sole ruler in the West from 340 to 350) and assumed control of the western half of the empire. In June 350 he crushed Nepotianus, who had declared himself emperor at Rome. To win the support of the Roman Senate, still largely pagan, in 331 he revoked Constantine's prohibition of nocturnal sacrifices. His coinage, however, shows that he was still officially Christian.

His chief opponent was Constantius II, ruler of the Eastern Empire. Failing to win recognition from Constantius, Magnentius allied himself with the commander of the Danubian troops, Vetranio, who had proclaimed himself emperor on March 1, 350. This arrangement ended quickly with the abrupt overthrow of Vetranio by Constantius. In 351 Magnentius repulsed Constantius at Atrans, and advanced into the province of Pannonia Inferior. Constantius rallied and, on Sept. 28, 351, severely defeated Magnentius at the Battle of Mursa (modern Osijek, Croatia). He then invaded Italy, whereupon Magnentius fell back to Gaul and, to avoid capture, committed suicide.