Got this not t long ago from Hungary. I was surprised how fast it arrived. It's similar to a FH Doug posted. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/constantius-ii-an-magnentius.278415/ Constantius II DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG laureate, rosette-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, holding globe; A behind bust RE-PARATIO Phrygian helmet, kneeling, one arm up RP Epsilon / * over A left Rome 174 Scarce
The special part here is that this series from Rome is listed as a 'seated' type in the references (FH2) but it is clearly kneeling on one knee. Rome mint coins of the period were broken up by periods of the various rulers some of whom struck for some of the others. Was this struck under authority of Magnentius? How can we ever tell?
that is a cool coin RG....i assume that's a nice big AE 2? here's the closest thing i got, the more usual constantinople... Constantius II, 337-361 AD. Æ-2 O: DN CONSTAN TIVS PF AVG, Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, Soldier spearing fallen horseman. Γ / CONSS* in ex., mint of Constantinople, RIC VIII, 82. 23 mm, 6.5 g
Is it just me? On the O.P. coin 'RP (Epsilon)' would indicate 'three characters'. I only see 'two'. R (Epsilon) Can someone, please, show me what I am failing to see?
Your vision is 20/20. The problem here was caused by someone copying the RIC listing which always lists the mark for the first officina (in this case RP) and the tackig on the correct letter E for the 5th shop without deleting the P. We might as well mention here that Rome at this period was strange in the way they numbered their workshops. Most mints chose between Greek numerals or Roman ordinals but Rome mixed the two systems up so #1 was P for Primus and #5 was E for the Greek 5).
You are welcome. While we are learning, there is one lesson that needs to be near the front. Many of the things we learn don't make a lot of sense at least at first. Why the Rome mint decided to use PBTQESZ I don't know but it just struck me that doing so eliminated gamma and delta which did not look like Latin letters. Perhaps alpha would have been confused for delta. If confusion were a problem the S might have been confused for a S in secundus or shop 2 and some other places went to VI just to avoid having to use a confusing S. We will never know some things and that is the lesson I rank at the top. It is good to ask but expecting an easy or short answer (out of me, anyway) is asking for a miracle.
