Roman Imperial, Marius, BI antoninianus, Trier, spring 269 AD, handshake, as RIC V.4 482

Marius was a former blacksmith who reputedly was proclaimed as emperor because of his evocative name, Marcus Aurelius Marius, evoking both Marcus Aurelius and Gaius Marius. According to the Historia Augustorum, he reigned for only three days, he was strong enough to push a wagon with two fingers, and he was killed by a former employee, allegedly with a sword which Marius himself had forged. Given the surviving coinage of Marius, it seems implausible that he reigned for such a short time, but its rarity suggests a reign of only a few months at most.