Wrong Assumptions: Maurice Tiberius Decanummium from Constantine in Numidia

Got an unidentified lot of four ancients from eBay yesterday, which I bid on because of the decanummium that didn't look too bad. I couldn't ID from the seller's photos - I figured it was a common Justinian. What was clear to me from the photo was that it came from Constantinople - a CON mintmark was very clear to see.

That was the wrong assumption. When I got it in hand and started researching it, I found that it had been minted in Constantine, Numidia. The Maurice Tiberius decanummii (sp.?) from Constantinople have the Officina letter to the right of the I - the ones from Constantine in Numidia have a star on either side of the I.

I'd never heard of that mint. I think this is also called Cirta -

"In 412, Cirta was host to another important Christian council, overseen by St Augustine. According to Mommsen, Cirta was fully Latin-speaking and Christian by the time the Vandals arrived in AD 430.[18] Under the emperor Justinian I, the city walls were reinforced and the city was named capital of its region with a resident commander (dux). Cirta was part of the Byzantine Africa from 534 to 697."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirta

The coin is nicely struck, with a pretty green patina that is unfortunately a bit thick, making it hard to read the obverse inscription:



Here's the obverse legend:


And it's chunky!



Maurice Tiberius
Decanummium
(582-602 A.D.)
Constantine in Numidia Mint
DN MAVRI Tb PP AVG, crowned and cuirassed bust facing / Large I, star to left, pellet-cross-pellet above, star to right; mintmark CON in exergue.
SB 578; DOC 262.
(4.28 grams / 18 mm)

Any other Constantine, Numidia Byzantines out there? I couldn't find any others on Coin Talk, but searching "Constantine" is not very helpful, as you can imagine. Any information about the mint would be helpful too - a cursory online search didn't turn up much.

 

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Very nice bronze, Mike.

 

Nice coin. I got my Sear yesterday, so "Constantine (in Numidia): CON. Operational sporadically from year 14 of Justinian (540/41) to year 11 of Maurice Tiberius (592/3)."

 

Thank you for that information, catadc. I updated my attribution accordingly.

 

I learn new things here everyday, that's a nice interesting coin thanks for sharing!

 

Very cool coin! But I think your first instinct was right, it is indeed Constantinople. SB 498A has stars. The "Constantine" mint (SB 578) has pellets above the stars.

Here's my SB 536 from Antioch:

 

I am pretty sure mine has the dots (or pellets or whatever they are called). Again, the patina makes them hard to see (and photograph - they are clearer in hand):

 

If the pellets are clear in hand, great! Cool coin, now I want one.

 

Well, I'm note sure "clear" is quite what they are - the pellet on the left is fairly visible. The one on the right is somewhat obscured by a patina booger (not a technical term ).

The Constantinople 498A is still a possibility - I had not noticed the 2 stars, no officiana type from Constantinople - and I thank you for pointing it out.

It does seem the Constantinople decanummiums are fairly crude compared to the Numidia ones I looked at (and mine). The Numidia examples I saw were on nice round flans with respectable edges. In comparison, the Constantinople ones look horrible (498 with the officinal is pretty common, I think) - but I could only find one 498A - on Coin Archives:




https://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotv...&Lot=335&Val=e9b398bde29f444ff67de76eb5fef50e

 

Constantinople also has round flans. I can't tell if yours has pellets, but the weight and style indicate a North African mint. Here is one for comparison.

http://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=5780