Constantine I & Probus

After 3 years of collecting I have finally acquired a example of Probus & Constantine I. What attracted me to them was mainly the price along with their condition for the price, so it was win win.




Probus (276-282 AD)
AE silvered Antoninianus
A: IMP CM AVR PROBVS PF AVG, radiate bust in imperial mantle l., holding eagle-tipped sceptre.
R: SOLI INVICTO / CM / XXIT, radiate Sol in spread quadriga, hand risen, holding whip.
22mm
3.8g
Cyzicus, 3rd officina
RIC Vb Cyzicus 911




Constantine (307 - 337 A.D.)
AE3
O:CONSTANTINVS AVG, diademed head right, ladder-shaped diadem with dots in segments
R: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG around VOT XXX in wreath, dot SMHA in ex.
Heraclea Mint 326 - 327 A.D.
19mm
2.8g
RIC VII 90 Scarce

 

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Great additions Mat. I bet that Probus looks even better in hand

 

Quite an attractive patina on the Constantine, but the Probus is of great preservation !
Good catches Mat

Q

 

its graet coins.
Thanks for Showing,

Manfred

 

A very nice example. Pink dates these to Emission 3, A.D. 280. I did consider trying to a full set of the 911 types at one point but there are a couple of really rare mint marks that make this very difficult to achieve. I think I gave up after variant number 18 before it became too much of an obsession.
It is a type that any Probus collection should contain a decent example of.
Congratulations,
Martin

 

Beautiful coins, I also really like the Probus

 

Thanks, you already saw where I got it from when questioned on Forvm, it was a no brainer due to the cost.

 

Yeah, I have always like the facing chariot type. One of my favorite types in all Roman coins. Very cool.

For Probus, I think a collectors needs one of these types, as well as an "ostrich neck" type. I just love those that have the elongated neck and tiny little head on top. You think artistry of the emperor like that would have gotten a guy condemned to the mines, huh?

Chris

 

That is 911 chariots, right? How many coin would make a set of Probus? How many of those are horsehead obverses?

 

Sorry Doug I was ambiguos and referring to RIC 911.
This type only occurs with a single bust variant and so the number of variations for RIC 911 is limited to the mintmarks on the reverse. I know of 24 variations just of this single RIC entry. If this were expanded to facing chariot types across all mints there would likely be several hundred variants.
The total number of variants to make a complete set of Probus coins would very much depend upon the criteria that you would set. Bastien for example differentiates between PROBVS P F AVG and PROBVS • P • F • AVG legends. This brings the number of variants for a Probus - Lugdunum complete set up to around 400 coins. The other mints are a different matter.
Tripolis could probably be covered off with less than 10 coins but Sisca is a different matter. Alfoldi documented many thousands of variations but within this he separated out minor obverse and reverse type variations into different entries. By this I mean things like whether the bust has wide or narrow wreath ties or another example would be RIC 817, which is a "Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy" type where he details the position of the enemy or presence of a shield etc. takes the number of variant up to 32 for this RIC entry.
Dr. A. Missong compiled a collection of around 14,000 Probus variants back in the late 1800s. I remember a discussion between a few Probus collectors coming up with a likely number in excess of 35,000 variants for a complete Probus collection.
Horsehead obverses are exceedingly rare and would probably account for less than a handful of variants.
Regards,
Martin

 

35,000 is a number I can accept. I do like Probus but my interest falls short of that level. What I will never understand is how a catalog like RIC can see a dot as significant on one page and lump together several bust types on another. In some cases I suspect that the dot is felt to accompany some other factor like a weight standard change but some dots are just dots.

 

Don't tell modern collectors that! To them, a dot or a very slightly changed tail feather is a major numismatic discovery enlightening our understanding of numismatics.

 

That is why I feel a little sorry for collectors of coin made from hubbed dies. Minute differences may come from meaningless dust spots. Certainly there are cases where a few coins are made from, for example, a proof die hub which may show something other than random differences but so many of the things are just signs of sloppy hubbing while we have variations introduced by mint workers anxious to go to lunch or confused about spelling words in a language they barely know. Why I think that is better may be up for question but I do and that is why I collect what I collect.

 

Dont forget there isnt the need to toss them in plastic coffins and we can hold them however we wish

Nothing gets more boring then looking at wheat backs and morgans. I'd go back to comic books full time if that was the only coinage available.

 

and wide AM's lol, still not sure what those look like XD

 

Lol, well type it into google and you get a page dedicated to it and explaining it. Thought I had found one recently but it was common for the year

Now its 10 islands of hawaii on the state quarter instead of 8. Not sure if you heard that one.

 

Yeah I saw it on NN cover but wasn't even interested enough to read the story. Many times I wonder why I still get NN.

 

thats a very nice probus here is mine of the same type. I think yours is a little better nice find.:thumb:

 

I also like your constantine and have one very similar to it coming in the mail also mint of heraclea. One question on the constantine how hard is it to get these coins with silvering on them?

 

Cool

For silvering, it varies. Really from my two coins time/era, it isnt hard, usually you pay a bit more though then one that isnt as silvered or lacks any all together.

Its just a matter of searching & being patient depending on the type you want with silvering.