Constantine

Happy Friday (for a few minutes here in NY!)

Augusta Treverorum, now modern Trier was a very important Roman city particular in the time of Constantine.

The abundance and quality of coinage likely reflects that success. Particularly early under Constantine.



RIC 781



RIC VII 44




I'd love to see your Treveri minted coins

 

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Yes. The die engravers were quite skilled. Even this common coin has a sense of balance and elegance to it.

 

Here is a Trier VOT type from CTer @tenbobbit who sent me a huge batch of ancients last fall. This one is one of my favorites - for reasons I cannot explain, I really like off-center ancients. The portrait on this one is exceptional for its somewhat cartoonish look - the giant eye and the tiny hooked nose; not the mint's most realistic portraiture, but charming, I think:


Constantine I Æ 18
(323-324 A.D.)
Trier Mint
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right / CAESARVM NOSTRORVM
around, VOT • X within laurel wreath, PTR in exergue.
RIC VII Treveri 430.
(4.39 grams / 18 mm)
@tenbobbit Oct. 2021 Lot


This one's smiling, with a huge ear:


Constantine I Æ 19
(313-315 A.D.)
Trier mint
CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate cuirassed bust right. / SOLI INVIC-TO COMITI, Sol standing left, chlamys over left shoulder, right hand raised, holding globe in left hand. T-F across fields, PTR in ex.
RIC VII Treveri 47 (see note).
(2.91 grams / 19 mm)
eBay Aug. 2020
Attribution Notes:
"NOTE re seemingly identical AE coins under Trier RIC VI and Trier RIC VII: Weight: Most AE Folles of RIC VI: 6.5-8.5 gr;
Half-Folles approx. 4.2-4.5 gr.
AE Folles in RIC VII: 3.8-4.9 gr.
Despite the weight overlap this information is usually sufficient to determine the correct RIC volume." Wildwinds

Crispus, with an itty-bitty arm:


Crispus Æ 20
(322-323 A.D.)
Trier Mint
IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES Laureate, cuirassed bust left, spear over shoulder & shield / BEATA TRANQVILLITAS altar inscribed VO/TIS/XX, globe and three stars above, •PTR• in exergue.
(2.15 grams / 20 mm)
RIC VII, 374 Trier
eBay Sept. 2017

 

Here's a few. I need to improve the photography. @IMP Shogun your photos are excellent! How do you take them to get dark coins to be lit so well? Mine are both too dark and too light on the highlights (they're very glossy coins).

Trier RIC VII 135a

Trier RIC VII 135b

 

Nice coins all. Trier gives such a lot of variety and are stylistically appealing.....

Here in another earyish Constantine.

RIC VI Trier 770



I have a personal liking for Mars types and Trier gives plenty of options......

RIC VI Trier 881


The normal Mars type is - Mars standing, right, holding spear and leaning on shield

RIC VI Trier 885

RIC VI Trier 897 (Half Follis)

RIC VII Trier 80

RIC VII Trier 114


Occasionally you get sub varities - "Mars helmeted, in military dress, spread cloak, standing, right, looking left, holding reversed spear, left hand leaning on shield"

RIC VII Trier 115 var (Reverse legend break, N-S break is R5. This reverse legend break is known from a single example in Vienna for RIC 117)


Of course there is the Sol type too and plenty of variety there, I will just share a standard type

RIC VII Trier 161

 

Lovely examples shown...

Constantine II, as Caesar. 317-337 AD. AE Follis (2.54 gm, 20mm). Treveri (Trier) mint. Struck 323-324 AD.
Obv.: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right.
Rev.: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, VOT/X in two lines across field; all within wreath; PTR (crescent). RIC VII 441; Schulten Em. 27.

 

From my first lot of ancient coins, that brought me into this hobby - there were 4 Treveri coins.

Here are the ones I find interesting



3.54 g 17.5 mm
Constantine I (306-337 AD) for Constantinus II Caesar. AE Nummus Treveri, c. 322.
Obv. CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, Laureate bust to left, wearing ornate trabea, holding Victory on globe in right hand and parazonium in left.
Rev. BEATA TRANQVILLITAS, Large globe on an altar inscribed VO/TIS/XX; three stars above, •STR• dot in exergue.
RIC 382



11.13 g 26.2 mm
Constantius I, as Caesar, Æ Nummus. Treveri, AD 298-299. FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate bust left / GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius, towered and nude to waist, standing facing, head turned left, holding cornucopiae with his left hand, patera in his right hand; A- gamma across fields, TR in exergue. RIC 196

 

Shogun, Those are two nice scores . What are the weight & diameters ? Pictured below are a few from my collection.


Constantine I as Caesar, AD 306-309 (struck AD 306-early 307). Trier Mint, 1st Officina. AE Nummus: 9.50 gm, 27 mm, 7 h. RIC VI 666a.


Constantine I as Caesar, AD 306-309 (struck summer AD 307), Trier Mint, 1st Officina. AE Nummus: 8.73 gm, 29 mm, 6 h. RIC VI 719b. Ex CNG Inventory 774824, July 2006.


Constantine I as Augustus, AD 307-337 (struck AD 307/8). Trier Mint, 1st Officina. Reverse: Mars with shield & spear. AE Nummus: 6.65 gm, 26 mm, 6 h. RIC VI 776. Ex Spink 169, lot 117 (part of), July 2004.

 

It’s the old “How do you get to Carnegie Hall” answer: practice. Proper lighting is really important as you indicate but exposure too. I’ve shamelessly copied other members of this forum on how to take macro photos - camera setups, settings and lighting.

If you are using lights they need to be diffused to avoid that harsh lighting vs the dark glossy patina. But your pictures do show all the devices for identification so they look good to me!

 

PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS is 26mm 8.87g

Better call Sol I totally messed up and misattributed it is:
From the Caesar_Augustus collection RIC VII Treveri 101
the later reformed 20.5mm 3.37g that we all know and love. Apologies for that, the price you pay when you dull your senses with a pair of old fashioned.

I can't edit the first post so hopefully this will suffice.

Here's another of the former:

RIC VI 781 25.0mm 8.11g

 

Hi Mike,
That's an interesting coin, but I think it has to be unofficial.

It's strange that RIC 430 exists as a listed type at all since it's at best a mule - pairing an obverse of Constantine I with a reverse (CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, VOT X) meant for the caesars.

What gives these away as unofficial vs mules is the bust style, which generally is not at all what would be expected for Constantine.

This is an interesting time period, with Constantine having delegated control of Britanniae and Galliae (mints of London, Trier and Lyons) to Crispus, who showed a good deal of independence in his coinage rather than following his father in lockstep.

First we have Constantine, from his mints, issuing VOT XX, VOT V (for the augusti and caesars respectively), while at the same time Crispus instead issues BEATA TRANQVILlITAS for all parties from his mints, with Constantine's vows (VOT-IS XX) relegated to an altar inscription.

A little later Constantine switches from VOT V to VOT X for the caesars, while continuing VOT XX for himself, and this time Crispus partially goes along issuing VOT X for himself and Constantine II, but again ignoring Constantine's VOT XX type and instead issuing the SARMATIA DEVICTA type for Constantine.

So, given this pattern, there's really no room for an intentional vota type issued by Crispus for Constantine, and if RIC 430 was a mule we'd expect to see an obverse matching the style of the SARMATICA type alongside which it would have been issued.

I think the reason RIC lists 430 as a type, despite being a muled pairing, is because it is more common than one might otherwise expect, but in fact it seems this is due to the prevalence of unofficial coinage at this time (taking advantage of the official coinage's tariffing reflecting a 4-5% silver content, vs 0% for unofficial copies).

Here's a couple more examples:

eBay - clearly barbaric bust style:




Cambridge Fitzwilliam museum - bust does look like mint/period correct Constantine, but lettering tends to give it away as unofficial.



For bust comparison to that Fitzwilliam coin, here's my SARMATIA (struck alongside the VOT X type).




Some of the unofficial coins with Trier mintmarks really are in very good style. Here's a couple of VOT XX examples of mine (a type not officially issued at Trier at all!).






I especially like the second one where the engraver has thrown in some palm leaves for good measure, no doubt inspired by Aquiliea and Rome who had done the same. One factor that gives this coin away as unofficial are the different beaded edge (PRD) diameters of obverse and reverse. The bust style is very good for Trier, but more for the following campgate series, not this exact time period.

 

Nice Trier coins, everyone! I'm fond of the mint too.

Here's a couple of Constantine's QVIES types, recognizing the retirement of Diocletian and Maximianus.

Diocletian - RIC VII Trier 699, 307 AD



Despite the plural "AVGVSTORM" reverse, this type only exists for Diocletian, so presumably was issued after Maximianus had already come back out of retirement and was in cahoots with Constantine.

Maximianus - RIC VII Trier 788, 308-309 AD



After Maximianus' brief-ish "2nd reign" he was finally forced back into retirement by Galerius and Diocletian (who had been invited, out of retirement, to lend some authority to the event) at the Carnuntum conference in 11-308, and Constantine duly issued this type for him.

 

That is very interesting! Thank you for providing that information, @Heliodromus - I have updated my attribution accordingly and saved your post to my attribution files. The portrait is indeed rather un-Constantine-like, and I can see how that is more of a "Caesar" reverse type.

Since I have a SARMATIA DEVICTA type from Trier, I'll share it here - with its much more plausible, Constantine-like bust:


Constantine I Æ 18
(323-324 A.D.)
Trier mint
CONSTANTINVS AVG laureate head right. / SARMATIA DEVICTA, Victory advancing right, holding trophy and palm branch, spurning captive on ground right, STR-crescent in ex.
RIC VII Trier 435 S.
(2.73 grams / 18 mm)
eBay Aug. 2020

 

Very nice new pickups…I always like the style of coins from this era from Trier. Here is a recent addition of Crispus from Trier with some nice detail on the reverse.



Crispus, AE Follis(19 mm, 2.79 g), Treveri (Trier) 317-318. FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Crispus to right. Rev.PRINCIPI•IVVENTVTIS / F - T / STR Crispus, as prince of the youth, standing front in military attire, head to right, holding inverted spear in his right hand and globe in his left. RIC 171

And a Constantine campgate form Trier:

Constantine I, AE Follis, Treveri(Trier), CONSTAN-TINVS AVG Laureate head of Constantine I to right./ Rev. PROVIDENTIAE AVGG / PTR(pellet-in-crescent) Campgate with two turrets, star above. RIC VII 475

 

Here is the reverse of a solidus of Valens. I love how the two emperors are portrayed differently. I believe the senior emperor is crowned, while the junior on the left (viewer’s right) has a simpler diadem. A testimony to the skill of the die engravers of Treveri.

 

I like these folles from the first tetrarchy. Here are some partially silvered GENIO POPVLI coins from the Trier mint.


Galerius as Caesar, AD 293-305.
Roman silvered billon follis, 8.62 g, 27.2 mm, 6 h.
Trier, AD 302-3.
Obv: MAXIMIANVS NOBIL C, laureate and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI, Genius standing facing, head left, wearing modius, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae; S/F//IITR.
Refs: RIC vi, p. 196, 508b; Cohen 65; RCV 14348.
Notes: Some numismatists postulate that the S F in the fields of these coins from Trier is an abbreviation for SAECVLI FELICITAS.


Constantius I, Caesar, 293-305.
Roman billon follis, 9.95 g, 26.6 mm, 11 h.
Trier, AD 296-97.
Obv: CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, laureate head right.
Rev: GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae; A/Γ//TR.
Refs: RIC vi, p. 183, 218a; Cohen 61; RCV 14035.

 

Great coins shown here. The Trier mint produced wonderful coins even before Constantine:

Here is my retirement follis of Diocletian from Trier:

Obv.: DN DIOCLETIANO BAEATISSIMO SEN AVG
Rev.: ROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES AVGG/ S-F/ PTR
Mint: Trier
Date: May 305- early 307
RIC 673a.

 

This coin I bought in the recent Peus auction. I showed it in a different thread, but here is the full description

Obv.: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB C
Rev.: MARTI PATRI CONSERVATORI /S-A/ PTR
Mint: Trier
Date: 307
Measurements: 7.92g, 28.2mm
RIC VI, p. 212, 725; C. 358; Voetter p. 391, unter Nr. 25-33; Hunter V, p. 160
Ex: Münzhandlung Ritter, Düsseldorf, 5.11.2004.

I don't yet have the coin, but I like the naturalistic depiction of Mars. Also the coin has a large diameter.