Read the Coin Before You Buy the Coin

I'm sure many of you have heard the advice "buy the book before you buy the coin." However I think I've found a new one to live by as well - read the coin before you buy the coin. Let me explain.

I was in Jerusalem a few months ago and figured it might be cool to pick up a coin from one of the local dealers in the old city. Knowing full well not to buy from the street peddlers or the T-shirt sellers I went to a very nice antiques dealer in the Christian quarter. He showed me a couple of things and the below coin caught my eye. He told me it was a Follis of Constantine the Great which I thought would be a memorable and appropriate purchase since I didn't have any of him in my collection. I bought the coin, collected all the export permits and went on my way.


Constantine II AE Follis
Obv.: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOM C; laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev.: GLOR-IA EXERCISE-ITVS; soldiers standing holding spear and shield. Two standards between.
Weight: 2.65 g
Diameter: 19.3 mm
Mint: ???????

Well I finally got around to photographing and attributing some of my newer stuff and that is when I found out that this is not in fact a coin of Constantine I it is a coin of Constantine II. The obverse reads CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C. A rough translation - Constantine the Younger, Noble Caesar. The IVN gives it away clear as day and I would have known that if I would have taken the time to read the coin or do a quick google search on the legend. Lesson learned!

All that said I still like the coin and would much rather have it in my collection than to have bought some random souvenir but this is definitly a learning experience for knowing what you are buying and to take your time to inspect the coin.

While I have you all here do you think you can help me ID the mint?

Also post your Constantine I and Constantine II coins!!!

 

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Sweet coin man. I think it might be Siscia mint.

 

Thanks Ajax. That's the way I was leaning as well!

 

No worries. I love the sandy patina on it. I had to take some pics but here's mine from Constantine II. It has quite a bit of silvering left on it, I don't know if you can tell from the picture though it looks kinda green to me. I'm still learning

Constantine II
AE3 19.86 mm 3.1g
Heraclea 317 AD
-Laureate, draped bust left, holding globe, sceptre and mappa.
-Campgate with three turrets, no door.
RIC VII Heraclea 20

 

I suspect that's the Siscia mint.

Another common reverse type of his is the campgate :
Constantine II as Caesar
Roman AE3 Centenionalis
Heraclea, AD 327-329
3.86 gm; 18.2 mm
Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, draped and cuirassed bust, r.
Rev: PROVIDENT-IAE-CAESS, campgate with two turrets, no doors; star above. Dot left field; SMHE in exergue.
Refs: RIC 96; RCV 17241; Cohen 164

 

Great eye appeal on the OP coin!

I'll take you up on your invitation to post Const I and Const II...

Const I as Caesar in 307 (London):



Const I in 312-313 (Rome):



Const. I with Sol, 310-313 (Treveri), ex Mazzini:



Const I with helmet and ridiculously huge eye, 318 (Siscia):


Const I, dead, 347-48 (Constantinople):


Const II, as Caesar, 321 (Rome):

Const II, as Caesar, 317-24 (Trier):

 

Nice!

 

Great story and a beautiful coin. I, too, would have believed it was Constantine I by the portrait.

 

Nice, Curtisimo ... congrats on the sweet OP-addition

Yah, I always get a bit confused by the Const*** gang ... awesome advice though

=> make sure you read/know the coin before you buy!! (I'm sure I have a couple of doubles because I didn't know enough at the time)

 

Interesting you say 'read/know the coin before you buy the coin'.

Well, in my case with this coin, neither the seller nor I were following that advice.
In other words, he didn't know what he was selling and I didn't know what I was buying. Neither of us know exactly what the coin was.

I'm glad I decided to buy the coin anyway, though, more out of curiosity, because it turned out to be a siliqua of Constantine III, minted at Lugdunum.

 

NIIIICE! Congrats on that capture!!!

 

I did that once, too, at a coin show in Ottawa. It was back when I first started focusing on Constantine I. I saw a nice, large coin with a reverse type that I hadn't seen on a Constantine I coin before. Stupidly, I neglected to bring my loupe with me to the show--and my old eyes aren't as good as they used to be--so I just relied on what was written on the flip rather than attempt to read the inscription. Turned out it was Constantius I, not Constantine.

Once I won a lot of 10 coins, supposedly of Constantine, in an online auction, one of which was actually Licinius I.

This sort of thing happens a lot. Dealers want to see Constantine I because they know that his coins carry a premium over Constantius, Licinius, or any of Constantine's sons. I could probably go on eBay right now and 5 - 10 coins misattributed to Constantine I.

 

The others have it. Siscia.

 

Here's my latest from each:


Constantine I, AD 306-337
Æ follis, 22mm, 2.9g, 12h; Rome mint, AD 314-315.
Obv.: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: SOLI INV-I-CTO COMITI, Sol standing half left, radiate, nude but for chlamys over shoulders and left arm, raising right hand commanding the sun to rise, globe in left hand, R over X on left, F on right
In Ex.: RS


Constantius II, AD 337-361
Æ15, 1.5g, 6h; Trier mint, A.D. 337- 340
Obv.: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS AVG; Laureate, cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: VIRTVS AVGG NN; Soldier standing holding spear and resting hand on shield In Ex.: TRP

 

Awesome Const III, @Eduard.

 

Great coins, I had a hard time with these too. Pretty confusing at first. Now I look for the NOB on them, and know right away it's the young type.

 

It can be a bit confusing when you see Constantine II coins issued with him as Augustus, like the Siscian example below.

 

Here's a very common Constantine I AE with campmate reverse, but I kind of dig the jade patina:

 

Very envious here! I wish the seller of my Jovinus (same time frame as your Constantine III) has been as ignorant, or at least have thought it was a Jovian or Julian or something.

Jovinus, Western Roman Empire
AR siliqua
Obv: D N IOVIN-VS P F AVG, Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: VICTOR-IA AVGG, Roma seated left on stylized cuirass, holding Victory on globe and reversed spear
Mint: Lugdunum
Mintmark: SMLDV
Date: 411-413 AD
Ref: RIC X 1717



At least the seller of this coin didn't think anything special of the marks next to Domitian's face! I was able to get this at a fraction of what these coins usually go for.

Domitian, Roman Empire (revalued in the Ostrogothic Kingdom)
AE as / 42 nummi
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II, laureate head left, countermark XLII (42) in left field
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST, Victory advancing right, standing on prow, holding wreath and palm branch, S-C across fields
Mint: Rome (struck 73-74 AD; revalued 498-526 AD)
Ref: RIC 677

 

Jango => I always love seeing that cool countermak!!