Theodosius II solidus - first coin of 2018

I know I'm late to the party... I have only just bought my first coin of 2018.. I have been rather poor, with most of my money and time so far taken up with travel in West Africa, and (two weeks ago) Antarctica. And today I was outbid on today's Antinous and Anthemius offered by Roma (what is with the extraordinary hammer prices in the auctions at the moment? Everything is selling for way more than reasonable value!)

So I have chosen instead to make a modest upgrade to the Theodosius II in my portrait series, by buying "old school" from an actual dealer:

Obverse: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG. Diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif.
Reverse: IMP XXXXII COS XVII P P / COMOB. Constantinopolis seated left on throne, with foot on prow, holding globus cruciger and sceptre; star to left, shield to right.

RIC X 293. Constantinopolis mint, A.D. 443-450. 4,5 g - 20 mm


I'm not quite in "Goldfinger" aka @panzerman 's league, being able to splash out on Florian aureii - but I really like this coin, despite some minor flaws that i can live with. I find the 4th-5th century bronze series quite dull, so I'm upgrading to gold where i can.

Fun fact - he ruled for 48 years and didn't die by being murdered (he fell off a horse)... pretty remarkable for a Roman emperor!

Show me your Theo II's!

 

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That is a great looking coin @Greg Heinrich !

LOL, in fact I am REALLY going to make it look good!

RI Theodosius II 402-450 CE AE4 11mm Cross in Wreath

 

Haha that does make it look good... But every coin - beautiful or ugly - has a story to tell.

My bronze Theo - along with anything else I upgrade - will be part of my contribution to this year's Secret Santa.

 

Gorgeous coin!

 

A great coin.

 

Awesome coin Greg!

 

Yeah, the horse was probably pushed off a cliff.........

welcome back Greg! (Btw, I have nothing new for the year yet & I've been home all this time )

 

Great coin Greg.

 

Great coin Greg!

 

That's one heckuva solidus! Somehow the nose and cheek damage is actually quite charming.

I have a couple of unusual Theo II coins. This first one, AE2 size, was struck for use in Cherson:


And this one was struck by Johannes in 423-25 (easy to tell from the style):

 

I think I saw yours for sale love the reverse! This is the closest I can come.

 

Pauca sed bona!

Wow, you do travel a lot. How many passports do you go through per year? Nice problem to have

 

Sweet!!

I found the MM on yours as COMOB a bit curious vs CONOB for Constantinopolis which had me looking for a reference to explain -

Fred. W. Madden in The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society New Series, Vol. 1 (1861), pp. 175-184 states:

After the death of Theodosius I., the empire is divided
between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius, and the
forms COMOB. for the Western, and CONOB. for the
Eastern empire, become the adopted exergual mint-marks . . .

. . . The forms COMOB. and CONOB. continue as the Western
and Eastern exergual mint-marks, till the time of Zeno and
Anastasius, after which they are of no use as distinctive mint-marks.

(Read the Article opens PDF)

Here's my Tremissis:



Theodosius II, AD 402-450
AV Tremissis, 14.32mm, 1.50g; Constantinople mint , AD 408-419
Obv: D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG - Pearl diademed draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM - Victory walking right, head left, holding wreath and globus cruciger, star in right field, conob in exergue
Reference: RIC X 213

 

Congrats Greg, beautifull piece of gold . Here's a coin from his daddy, Arcadius , who died at the age 31 , Theodosius II was only 7 years old when he succeeded his father in 408 AD
I think my copper follis coin, looks like fool's gold



Looks like Victoria is doing a juggling act on your tremisses , dadams , me like.

 

..gold eh?!?..and the 1st?..well, when you decide to be a bear, be a grizzly!..

 

Beautiful coin and fun write up! Thanks for sharing both Fun filled fact: my coin was what tripped the horse causing Theo II to fall to his death yeah, you can actually see hoof prints all over it. That's why it looks so beat up...I swear its true #notdinggerfromuncleanedlot


THEODOSIUS II
402-450 CE Ae. Antioch. Obv: D
N THEODOSIVS P F AVG.
Diademed, helmeted and
cuirassed bust facing slightly
right, holding spear and shield
decorated with cross. Rev:
CONCORDIA AVGG / ANTΓ.
Constantinopolis seated facing
on throne, head right, with foot
set upon prow, holding sceptre
and crowning Victory on globus.
From uncleaned lot

 

Awesome coin! I wonder if the diadem will ever come back around in men's fashion.

 

Gorgeous fair gold!

 

Better late than never G.H. When I bought my first gold coin nearly 3 months ago, I said to myself: Welcome to the yellow side.. Charles. Farewell to the dark poor side.
I do like jokes even alone. Well don't care too much about money, though important it is in our daily lives. And as they say somewhere in Europe: Viel Geld heisst nicht immer viel Gluck ( I have no umlaut on my keyboard ).
I chose this bronze coin of Theodosius II with the blessed cross on reverse.It was struck in Cyzicus. The gold Ducato had also the face of Jesus on obverse(1400AD)

 

On average just one passport a year... I have 85 countries to my name now ☺️