Despite what you may have expected....the coin that I will post is an AS of Claudius I with an unfamiliar 'diety' 'Constantia'. I was drawn to this bronze because of that and by the surprisingly inexpensive price it seemed to be going for at auction. Naturally, I couldn't find any reference to this deity in my usual 'handbook' but googled and discovered that it means 'constancy', 'consistency' and 'firmness'. It also appears that this was begun by Claudius himself in an attempt to establish a new Imperial virtue---setting aside the arbitrary rule of the murdered Gaius Caligula and was initiated from the very first coins minted under Claudius. It also raises the obvious sounding connection to the Constantine dynasty and of all those towns and cities similarly named. While I have yet to precisely attribute this coin, it appears to be a RIC 95 and of about 9.7 grams and 27 mm, dated to 41-54 AD at Rome. The legend should read TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TRP IMP; CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI, wth S C A bareheaded bust of Claudius with a reverse of 'Constantia' in military dress standing left holding a long spear in the left hand.
LOL, good one! Very nice coin. I have only a Claudius As with a Minerva... But she was more of a bad-As than a beauty...
That's one of the issues from the Iberian mint (RIC incorrectly gives them all to Rome). We've had a few discussions on here about them.
@Mikey Zee that would look great in my collection! Nice pick up and glad you got it for a good price.
That's interesting!! I must have missed those somehow---probably before I joined CT on a consistent basis.
Here is my version. CLAUDIUS AE As OBVERSE: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TRP IMP P P - Bare head left REVERSE: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI - Constantia standing left, raising hand and holding spear; S C across fields Struck at Spain, 42/3AD 12.7g, 25mm RIC111, BMC201, S1858
And mine... Roman Empire Claudius 41-54 CE AE As, 28mm, 10.5g Rome mint 41-42 CE REV: Minerva std r, brandishing spear and holding shield REF: RIC 100, Sear5 #1861 EX: TIFcollection
