There are coins that are easy to love and coins that require fitting a collector in a way that most collectors would not understand. I know one person here that might appreciate this coin and he did to the degree that he pointed it out to me knowing it was more my sort of thing than his. Most will say it is just another Falling Horseman. Most will say it is ragged and perhaps even damaged. A few will note it has a beautiful portrait of the distinctive style of a rare mint but I doubt any but my above mentioned friend would understand why that mint is special. For all its faults, this coin has a clear AMB mintmark. Ambianum (Amiens) was a mint for a very short time beyond the reign of Magnentius. This coin is my only example of this mint for Constantius Gallus Caesar and I have only one of the more common coins of Constantius II Augustus. I consider this a great portrait for this mint. RIC (47 page 124 volume VIII) lists it as Scarce but you may have to look a bit to find others. There were several in the Bridgnorth Hoard sold recently but this one does not have the distinctive cleaning style of that group and does not match the reported weight of any listed. The coin has damage on the reverse die caused by a die clash or the die set being struck together without a blank in place. The reversed, incuse of the portrait is shown weakly with the lips of the obverse portrait lined up just right of the horseman head as if they were about kiss the victim. This is far from the strongest example of a die clash I have but it is, without doubt, a clash. The reverse is a bit of a mess from both the clash and the edge irregularities. ...and that is why I bought another (at least my 120th or so) falling horseman.
You and your coin interests are, well, interesting to say the least. I would have passed on this coin without a second thought. I wouldn't have even recognized the Ambianum mintmark unless it was pointed out to me. Like someone said in a recent thread, coins need love too, and this particular coin has your love (I guess you can call it that). Congratulations.
Well I am a sucker for die clashes. I love them alot and would totally build a collection of ancient and modern based on them but that would be alot of $. I have several ancients and world coins with them. Like bing though if I was sifting through ebay I would just skim right through the coin. I dont collect FH or know one mint from the next. I keep Randy updated with anything I see that might be special and well priced. Doug, is the green bronze disease or just hard green?
Actually, thinking about it, I am wondering if your poll might be more telling Doug if you had a third option, "I think they are interesting but would choose a non-damaged example for my main collection". That is how I feel. While I find the coin interesting, I would quickly have bought the exact same coin without the clashes instead if it were a choice. Alright, you got me, I would have bought both most likely.
I think all the faults on mine and are to strong points on yours but it has a much better home with you Doug. As Doug said, it's hard to find FH from this mint with only a few from the Bridgnorth Hoard. That hoard aside the only one I've seen listed online for sale is Dougs new addition. Heres and example of the cleaning style mentioned by Doug BTW, whats the difference between Doug's coin,or the first I posted with this one with regards to the reverse.
Dang DS, you are so articulate and knowledgable about ancients its scary. You know I love the "Fallen Horseman" series. I have 10 different mint examples of the type. Of course I need Amiens and a few others. Nope, you are not alone in your love of that coin DS. Well done !!!!
