New Late Roman Bronzes (Decent Quality, possible rare types?)

Okay, hit the coin shop the other morning, the fella who I spend most my time talkin with there had just put out a new tray of Roman bronzes, all 4th century, not usually my time period, but he said he would give me a good deal having known me for so long and with me having been one of the few Ancient Roman/World Coin collectors to visit the shop on a regular basis.
So I browsed about for a while, found a few I liked.... This is a time period and coin type I have only a couple of, and only one or two in decent enough shape worth mentioning. So I found some nice ones from the London Mint, as well as a couple with the Vows on the reverse, ie 'VOT X X' inside the wreath, mintmark below.... I also found a nice Sisica mint Vows that has 'rSIS' and then that rising sun that you see next to the mintmark on some, I didnt notice that untill I got home, but always thought that was cool.....

There are two that I assume are from Trier? but like I said, not my period of expertise.... the one has just the mintmark 'PT' the other has the mark 'PT.' the '.' period being a large after the T. Maybe after taking a look some of you can help me out, I know there are some collectors of primarily these types here.

Anyhow I will start with my favorite of them all, a Constantine II one from Sisica, with the little sunrise on the reverse, and one of the most beautiful and well done portraits I have seen on any coins of his......few spots of green but nothing too bad. Let me know your opinions, good or bad, and I will post the othes in subsequent posts.

Also this info I am giving for each coin was from the paper in the flip that was provided with the coin from the coin shop. Something they left out for most were the dates, or time of reign.... so that would be helpful if anyone has it for these particular coins or emperors....
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Constantine II - AE3 - AD 316 - 337
AE Follis, Sisica Mint. -
Mintmark: rSIS sunrise

obv: CONSTANTINUS JUN NOB C - Laureate head right.

rev: 'VOT X' in wreath, surrounded by: CAESARUM NOSTRORUM
rSIS sunrise in exergue.
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I really love the portrait on this one.....I've got one more pic of the reverse of this one in the beginning of the next post..... along with some more....

 

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More Vows.....

Okay this top pic is the last one of the reverse of the Constantine II that I showed in the above post.
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The next two photos are of a Constantine I The Great AE Follis with a 'Vows' reverse. One photo of obv/rev together, one of just the reverse. This one looks to have the P T mintmark in exergue, but there is also a crescent under the two X's inside the wreath.

Constantine I
AE Follis - PT

obv: CONSTAN TINUS AUG - Laureate head right.

rev: 'VOT X X' (crescent below) inside wreath surrounded by: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AUG - 'PT' in exergue.
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Next is another of Constantine I The Great, this one was silvered it seems and has the SOLI INVICTO COMITI reverse.... this one has an interesting mintmark "P T dot" anyone have any ideas? I would think 'Prima Treveri', Trier Mint - first workshop.... but do not know these coins well enough. I had a nicer example of this same type from the Rome mint a while ago that I gave as a gift to a bank teller I had known for a long time who was retiring, except that one, despite having the same titles (except mintmark) had three letters in the various fields, and no star whatsoever.. This one has a large very noticeable star in the left field.

CONSTANTINE I - 307-337 A.D.
AE Follis - PT =

obv. IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Seen from the front.

rev: SOL INVICTO COMITI - Sol standing left, raising right arm and holding globe. Large star in left field
in exergue: P T .
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My next post will have my last two one of crispus from London, and a helmeted bust of Constantine I with two captives on the reverse, also from the London Mint.

 

London Mint Follis part 1 - Constantine The Great, Helmeted bust, captives

This is another favorite of my newest buys.... I bought it solely for the reverse, and the fact that it was from the London Mint.... the detail on the captives and everything on the reverse is quite nice... the portrait a little less so, but still good.

Okay so here is the Helmeted Bust Constantine I, with the two captives reverse. I don't have my usual lighting setup, so I took multiple shots trying to show the full ammount of detail and lack thereof.

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Constantine I AE Follis
London Mint

obv: CONSTAN TINUS AUG - Helmeted bust right, cuirassed and seen from the front.

rev: VIRTUS EXERCIT - PLN in exergue - Two captives seated on either side of a banner inscribed 'VOT X X'.
One mourning with head in hand, the other looking backwards.
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Next post will have my Constantius II Campgate reverse, as well as my Crispus PLON

 

Iinteresting Constantius II Campgate + London Mint Crispus Follis

Okay, so here are my last two from this last pickup.... not bad for under $10 each I don't think..... and I got them because I liked the look, the portrait, the style, the reverse etc.... not because I expected any to be 'rare' or 'valuable' in a modern sense. I just liked them.

So here is the Constantius II Campgate follis, the first 4 pics are of that..... a nice portrait, very pretty, left facing, nice cuirass and drapery, well centered etc..... and a pretty good detailed reverse, I can see it has 4 turrets, and seems to have 6 layers top to bottom, 5 look like they are meant to be solid, the fifth, top one below the turrets, seems different. Also I notice the doors opened to the outside... The only other two campgates I have, one of Constantius II, and one of Constantine II seem to have the doors closed.

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This next one, the last photo of them all, is from the London Mint I believe, of Crispus as Caesar... according to the info it came with, not the best of shape, and the hardest to photograph as well, but the PLON is clear in exergue on the reverse. This one came with a date period written on it, but a fairly wide period... here's the info from the sheet it came with
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Crispus as Caesar, AD 316 - 326.
AE Follis, London Mint.

obv: JUL CRISPUS NOB C - Laureate head right.

rev: 'VOT X' inside wreath, surrounded by: CAESARUM NOSTRORUM
PLON crescent in exergue.
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That is all.... all 6, so any help, any feedback, any comments any anything would be appreciated. Thank you all.

Also I know I haven't been posting and contributing as much as I normally do, this has been due to a lengthy trip to Malaysia, and various other complicated life situations.... I doubt my lack of presence was noticed, but still, I will do my best now that I am back to help others in any way I can, the way many people here helped me back in the day

 

All great pickups. I dont own any one of those but you know I am not a huge fan of wreaths/campgates so thats why I havent been in a rush to pick up a example.

I still like the sunrise in exergue the best, never seen that before until your pics.

Still curious if your campgate might be a scarcer version of some sort. Hopefully someone can help with that.

 

Nice pickups! That campgate has some great detail. It helps bring it justice that it is nearly perfectly centered too.

stainless

 

Thanks mat, stainless. Like I said before coins of this era and these emperors are a bit out of my comfort zone, I tend to stick to what I know, but the price was right, and these 6 I bought stood out to me, I liked the way they looked. So hopefully someone can give some more info. I got to the coin shop at the right time since they had just put this tray under the glass and it was totally full, and unmolested.... so I got first pick. I still love the portrait on the first one from Sisica.... the sunrise in the mintmark is something I always found cool too.

 

Very nice! yeah that campgate is pretty cool and I like that first one alot!

 

Not bad at all!!!

 

You have a good amount of information for most of your coins, but let me shed some additional light on your Constantius II campgate.

You're quite right, the open gates are a specific variety, and a great find for only $10. Usually they go for much more. The open gates are unique to the mint of Arelatum (modern Arles). Note that the mintmark in the exergue reads QCONST, which means Officina Quarta (workshop 4) Constantina.

Constantine I's first son with his second wife Fausta was Constantine II, born in Arelatum, which was a favoured city of the elder Constantine. He renamed it Constantina in 318 in honour of his new son. The new name stood for years, but reverted to Arelatum after Constantine II was killed during his failed campaign against his younger brother, Constans. The old name lasted from 340-353, at which point the CONS/CONST mintmark returned.

It's the source of confusion since it often gets mixed up with CONS for Constantinopolis/Constantinople. But that's what happens when you have an emperor going around naming everyone and everything after himself. Dude, we already appended "the Great" to your name, so give the ego a rest.

 

Very nice, thank you Eyestrain for the helpful info. I was not aware of that, and like you said about it being a 'source of confusion' I, like many others I take it, assumed it to be from Constantinople at first. At least now I know it is from Arelatum, and can add the proper information.
I especially like the bust and obverse of that coin, the campgate one we are speaking of.... it's a nice small, well centered portrait, and the coin has a bit of a reddish/rust colored tone to it as you can see a bit of in the photos. I like this one.

I was wondering, can you tell me the significance of the 'S F' on either side of the campgate.

*Also on two of Constantine I, the one with the vows 'VOT X X ' on the reverse with a crescent below within the wreath and 'P T' in exergue, and the one with the 'SOL INVICTO COMITI' reverse, which looks like it has 'P T dot' on the reverse in exergue..... are these from Trier? Was I right about that? I have seen PTR and STR mintmarks on coins from Trier, but like I said, I know little of the coins and mintmarking used during this period.

 

Failmezger suggested Saeculi Felicitas but I suppose someone else could offer a different interpretation.

 

Hm, well that would make sense.... I hadn't thought of that.... but we shall see, maybe Eyestrain knows.... he seems to know his stuff in this area, or possibly someone else.... I know the campgate style is popular among collectors and that some specialize in it specifically.

 

It's my understanding that the meaning of the S F on these coins is purely a matter of conjecture. No one knows for sure, but the suggested Saeculi Felicitas seems to be the popular best-guess.

And the T mintmark is for Ticinum in modern-day Pavia, Italy.

Here's a page that has a handy list of all the various mint codes: http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/mints.html

 

Caracalla Antoninianus

Ah, great. Thank you that looks like a very helpful page, definitely one I will bookmark.

I also just recently purchased this Serapis reverse Caracalla Antoninianus, back to my favorite area of Roman Coinage.... its beautiful in my opinion, and goes very nicely with one of my other Antoninianii of Caracalla I think, both being so well centered that is. The first one with the Serapis reverse weighs 5.03 grams, and the second one weighs 5.2 grams and has a very large flan, about the size of a US 25cent piece. I have another variation on the VENUS VICTRIX which has a 'seen from behind' bust and Venus holding a helmet (instead of Victory, like in this one) and two captives at her feet also, that one weighs 5.5 grams but has a thicker and smaller flan than the others... I am hoping to put together a set of the VENUS VICTRIX reverses with each of the bust types..... This VENUS VICTRIX with the frontal bust is my first one, and my favorite Caracalla Ant still.... but I sure do like this Serapis one...

 

looks fantastic !

 

Elagabalus - VICTOR ANTONINI AUG

Thank you Randy and here is my newest Elagabalus Antoninianus, I didn't want to start a new thread for it..... and I will take pics of the Caracalla, Serapis reverse antoninianus later today if I can. I really like this Elagabalus portrait, it's quite nice.... the lighting looks a bit odd since I don't have my usual setup set up... all are of the same coin though.
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Roman Empire
Emperor Varius 'Elagabalus' Antoninus (218 - 222 AD)
Silver Antoninianus, Rome Mint.
obv: IMP CAES M AUR ANTONINUS AUG - Radiate bust right, draped and cuirassed.
rev: VICTOR ANTONINI AUG - Victory advancing right holding palm & wreath.
4.7 grams.

RIC 155, RSC 291.
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Not the best reverse for the type, but a pretty nice bust I think..... kinda hard to get good shots of it though without my usual photography setup.

 

Is the photo with the red background a seller pic? I like the others more. Thats a pretty nice portrait! Congrats.

 

Yes, Randy, the one with the red backround is a seller pic, the rest are mine, thanks for the comments.

I also got some new pics of my newest Serapis reverse Caracalla Antoninianus, I posted them in this thread which I had forgotten about:

http://www.cointalk.com/t163849/#post1133568

 

Vespasian - FIDES PUBL handshake

I also decided to take a few new pics of this denarius too, thought it could use some better lighting to show the expressive face of Vespasian and to light up the details and the flaws.... this lighting for the past few pics may be bright and a bit golden-tone off-color, but it surely shows the flaws and details well with all the light...

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Emperor Vespasian Silver Denarius -'FIDES PUBL' Clasped Hands
Rome Mint, AD 73

obv: IMP CAES VESP AVG PM COS IIII CEN - Laureate head right.

rev: FIDES PVBL - Clasped hands holding wheat ears, opium poppies and caduceus.
3.0 grams
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I love the expressive portrait of Vespasian on the reverse, sadly it is a bit off center, and the top of the caduceus and parst of the word 'PUBL' are off the flan , but aside from that I think its a great coin.
I also love my other fav Vespasian Denarius
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Emperor Vespasian (AD 69 - 79)
Silver Denarius, Rome Mint AD 74

obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANUS AUG - Laureate head right.
rev: TR P COS V PON MAX - Winged Caduceus.
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Both just have just expressive faces for the Emperor, and I really like the reverses, especially the Winged Caduceus, and the handshake is very cool too, I hope to get more similar types struck by other emperors such as Antoninus Pius some day. I'd love the one with Balbinus... tough luck for me there though...