A couple of sharp "VOT ... within wreath"s of Constantine I and II

For the longest time I mostly avoided late Roman coins and thought they were less interesting than other eras, but the Aurelian antoninianus that I bought recently from Seth77 got me re-interested in these coins and I decided I wanted a more presentable Constantine than the junky one I found in an uncleaned lot over a year ago. I always thought the "VOT within wreath" type was my favorite of the common later bronzes as well, so I settled on the Constantine and ended up adding on the Constantine II because it was cheap and I really liked how it highlighted the differences in wreath styles emitted by the various late Roman mints.


Constantine I, AE follis(19mm, 3.1g), Ticinum, 322-325 AD. CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right / DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG, VOT XX crescent in three lines within wreath. Mintmark PT. RIC VII Ticinum 167.


Constantine II, AE follis(19mm, 3.1g). Trier. 323-324 AD. CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right / CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around VOT X within wreath. Mintmark STR in exergue. RIC VII Trier 433

I'm sure the others here have some cool "VOT" coins to share as well, so please do.

 

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Very sharp portraits on those coins. Very nice.

 

Nice VOT coins Red. I have a Crispus and Constantine II.
Doug H.

 

Really nice coins, Doug. Crispus is another emperor that is still not represented in my collection.

 

very nice coins! i have 2, a little rougher than those fine examples shown above...


Constantine II, AE follis of Heraclea. AD 320.

CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right.
DOMINOR dot NOSTROR dot CAESS around VOT V and star in three lines within wreath, dot in badge at top of wreath.
Mintmark SMH Delta. 18mm 2.7g

RIC VII Heraclea 63. Rated C1.


Crispus AE. 321 AD.
Obverse: CRISPVS NOB.CAES, His laureated draped cuirassed bust right
Reverse: CAESARUM NOSTRORVM around wreath inscribed VOT/V. RT in exergue (Roma Mint, third officina)
22mm 2.5g
RIC VII 234

 

My area of expertise is not LRBs. But I can certainly appreciate fine examples when I see them. Well done!

 

Crispus, AD 317 - 326
AE, follis, 3.01g, 19mm; 6h; Aquileia mint
Obv.: CRISPVS NOB CAES; laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev.: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, VOT / (dot) / V in laurel wreath
In Ex.: (dot) A[Q]S (dot)
Ref.: Aquileia RIC VII 69


Constantine I, AD 306-337
AE3, 20mm, 3.3g, 1h; Aquileia mint, AD 320-321.
Obv.: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG; Laureate head right.
Rev.: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG surrounding VOT XX enclosed in laurel wreath,
In Ex.: ·AQP·
Ref.: RIC VII Aquileia 85 (p. 404)

Think I have one more but no photo.

 

nice vots RS...that constantine ii portrait is sure different...i dig it!

 

Nice coins all.

 

Jovian


Jovian
Coin: Bronze AE3
D N IOVIAN-VS P F AVG - Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust left
VOT V MVLT X - Within wreath
Mint: Heraclea (363-364 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.64g / 20mm / -
Acquisition/Sale: $0.00
Notes: Nov 15, 14 - RIC viii Heraclea 111

 

Gratian
Coin: Bronze AE4
DN GRATIA-NVS P F AVG - Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
VOT XV MVLT XX - Within wreath
Exergue:
Mint: Sisca (367-383 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 1.38g / 18mm / -
Rarity: Scarce
References:

• RIC IX Siscia 31a

 

Julian II
Coin: Bronze AE3
D N FL CL IVLI_ANVS P F AVG - Pearl-diademed, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, shield forward in left hand, spear forward in right
VOT / X / MVLT / XX - Legend in four lines surrounded by wreath terminating in large jewel Palm SIS palm in exergue
Mint: Siscia (361-362 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.64g / 21mm / -
References:

• RIC VIII, 415

 

Very nice!

 

Excellent examples one and all...

 

Of course, these are not the most exciting types in the world - they're not exactly Zeus hurling a thunderbolt while Pegasus flies over a roiling sea with warring triremes while the moon and stars blink in the background. (If you find such a coin, let me know!). But to the collector of Roman types, they are quite important in charting the course of history because of their commemoration of public vota.

Some types are so very common that they're affordable in very high grades with complete silvering. I have some unofficial issues on which the obverses and reverses are mismatched. These coins come from Rick Morton, who assembled his well-respected Capitoline Collection - he's been slowly selling off his coins recently.

I've posted these elsewhere, but as long as this thread has come up, I'll post them again...

1. The first is this hybrid, obverse of Constantine II, reverse of Constantine I. During the run of this series, the princes Constantine II and Crispus received reverse legends CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, or abbreviations thereof, with VOT X. Constantine I got DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG with VOT XX.

So this is a mule of RIC VII Trier 459 and RIC VII Trier 324. Since both types were minted in AD 324, it's easy to see how the dies could have gotten mixed up.

To compound matters, the engraver (or engravers) of the dies ran out of room and shortened both inscriptions to make them irregular. The B is missing on the obverse: CONSTANTINVS IVN NO(B) C, and AVG on the reverse is abbreviated simply as A. This sort of thing isn't particularly uncommon, but it adds a layer of fluff to an already erroneous cake.



2. This one has obverse of Constantine I, AVG abbreviated AV, reverse of Constantine II/Crispus with the completely botched inscription CAEMSARVM NOSTRVM. But Ticinium mint only used DOMINORVM NOSTRORVM CAESS on this series, so this coin is a real hodge-podge of mistakes.

 

Nice!! => great VOTs, red_spork (congrats)

... oh, and nice VOTs to the rest of you dudes too ...

Hmmm, I'm fairly sure that I only have one VOT example? (but sadly, I'm often wrong, so I'll look for more in a sec)

... but until then => here is my cool Julian-II VOT

 

JA, awesome mules.
Doug H.

 

Hey Red, very happy to hear about your recent interest in LRBs, they're wonderful aren't they

I also like votives and especially the ones that have certain particularities, like for instance this one:




CONSTANTINE II AE3 18mm 2.73g Follis/Nummus (VF, patina, scratches)

AV: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C; laureate draped cuirassed bust r.

REV: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM; VOT/V inside wreath

EXE: R eRwC in ligature Q, Rome mint, 4th officina.

REF: RIC VII Rome 231, rated R5, 320-321AD.

The interesting mintmark is the greek EROS in ligature, which is the counterpart of AMOR in latin, which in turn is ROMA backwards.

This one is as unassuming as LRBs often are but the playful and evocative mintmark, characteristic for a short time in the early 320s at Rome is what sets it apart.

 

Constantine II AE3, 320-321 AD.

OBV: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust left.

REV: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around laurel wreath enclosing VOT / V, star above on wreath, TSBVI in ex.

REF: RIC VII Thessalonica 120

This coin has a rather strange obverse portrait.

 

Nice!