VICTORINUS, Gallic Empire 
AD 269-271
AE Antoninianus. 2.45g, 20.3mm
MINTED: Treveri (Trier) mint, AD 271
REF: RIC V 71; Mairat 290
OBVERSE: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: SALVS AVG, Salus standing left, holding scepter, feeding from patera a snake rising from altar to left.
 
Provenance:
Reportedly from a hoard of antoniniani circa AD 270 found in Norfolk, UK.

Grade/Notes:
Very Fine. Typical ragged flan.
Salus was the Roman goddess of well-being, welfare and safety, typically that of the state.  She eventually also took the place of Valetudo, the goddess of peronal health, and would be invoked to protect not only the well-being of the state and emperor, but also the physical well-being of individuals.  Like her Greek counterpart Hygieia, Salus was often depicted with a snake, the sacred animal of Asclepius (Asklepios), the god of healing.  
 
Historical Notes:
Victorinus was a short-lived ruler of the Romano-Gallic Empire who succeeded another short-lived emperor, Marius.  Victorinus spent many months of his reign struggling to regain territory in south-east Gaul that had been lost to an army sent by the Roman emperor, Claudius Gothicus.  Upon returning to his base at Cologne after successfully beseiging the city of Autun, Victorinus was murdered by one of his own officers whose wife Victorinus had apparently seduced.