Constantine, Constans, Constantinius, I, II, and argh!

@chrsmat71 i don't feel bad at all. I'm learning and this is helping a ton.

 

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Who's this one?



CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laureate, rosette-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right / GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS, two soldiers holding spears and shields with one standard between them, chi-rho on banner. Epsilon SIS in ex.

 

For an important graphical reference --

click here for the Stemmata

 

In all honesty, many of the problems in IDing these come from failure to read every letter. Constantius lacks an N before -us while Latin for Constantine is ConstantiNus. Many (not all) coins of Constantine II have the letters IVN after ConstantiNus telling you the coin is of 'junior'. Yes, there are some that are trickier than others and many beginners insist on buying coins with so much legend missing that they are hard to read. Many of these can be IDed by tricks you learn in lesson two but lesson one is to read the legends all the way to the end. Coins of Constantius I are enough earlier that they stand out having different reverses or larger sizes to separate them from Constantius II. Of the CON people, Constantius Gallus is the only one regularly shown with bare head and his coins also have IVN much of the time. They did not place IVN on coins of a younger man after the death of the elder one so you do not see IVN on coins of Constantius II who was born long after the death of his grandfather Constantius I. Yes, I can see how this might produce a headache until you learn a few rules but that is why we suggest going to shows and handling coins and going online and looking a pictures of coins you are not going to buy. Practice really does help!

 

Those starting to feel comfortable with the CON question are invited to my page
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/idric.html
but it assumes access to RIC (THE book) and could be a little advanced for those who have not learned lesson one (read every letter). The one question quiz at the end is a few lessons harder than the rest of the page and might be nothing more than an introduction to the fact that there are a few coins harder than the others. It is unlikely you have any of these but you should be aware that the target audience of these legends were native Latin speakers and had no trouble with the idea that a family reused the same names.

 

I've been working at identifying coins for a few weeks and don't expect to be an expert at it, in any way shape, or form. The advice here is a HUGE help.

 

Wish we had the option to 'double like' something.

 

Well, you can. Just click Like (unlike) again, then click it to Like again. Nothing will really happen, but you will have the satisfaction of Liking it twice!

 

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I admit I do feel a little 'bad' sometimes. I get impatient with myself. I want to absorb all of this learning about ancient coins; the numismatic lexicon particular to ancients; the history and geography of the whole area a study of these coins touches; the Greek alphabet; how to clean my crusty, grimy ancients (progress!); and, the laws pertaining to transactions involving some of these ancients as well as collecting interesting cases which appear in the news that might affect our collecting. It's a lot to learn and I want to know it all like - yesterday! So, yes, I lose patience with myself a little bit.

By the way, your coins are gorgeous! I particularly like the one with the 'hut' reverse and thanks for the links which I have saved.

 

Constantine I?

 

That is my vote as well.

 

I'm 99% sure that's my problem. When I was in the Army, my job required me to translate from Korean to English in real time. We were also taught gisting skills to help us figure out meaning by context, etc. So, if we only knew eight words in the 12 word sentence the process taught us to use the other words to our benefit.

Fast forward to reading legends on coins and (this is more of an issue with sections aren't legible) I find myself verifying sections of the writing and not every single letter.

I will have to stop doing that when it comes to the Constantine gaggle.

 

And don't forget to .........

click here for the Stemmata

 

I have taught this method for years. Understanding the context really is the best way to a decent translation. Translation will always be difficult because one is not merely translating words, one is trying to translate thoughts and ideas. Each culture has its own way of expressing thoughts and ideas in language. One cannot separate the language from its culture. Understanding that is another step towards a reasonable translation. Consider the word "foreigner". In North America it generally means someone who is not from here. However, its equivalent in French "etranger" literally means "foreigner". It goes much further than that though. We cannot think of "etranger" without thinking of stranger. So in English we associate strange with foreign when translating. Is this the intended sense of the word? Yes, in some cases, and no in others. One must also recognize that words that look similar may have different meanings. For example "estranger" is comparable to "estranged" in English, that is removed from affection or closeness in some way. Since a "foreigner" comes from outside he or she may be both "stranger" and "estranger".

 

Yaaaay! I did get to "like" it twice! Now I feel better! Whew! I guess I must be like that old song said: "A little bit country, a little bit OCD." No..that wasn't it. (Them crickets is loud!)

 

Two very good books I have found very helpful.

The most recent, Late Roman Bronze Coinage, An attribution guide for poorly preserved coins. Author, Guido Bruck, Translated by Alisdair Menzies. It has very well designed ink drawings that enable one to visualize the devices and inscriptions for each emperor of this era from Constantine I through Constantine II. It was published in 2014.

The very old, but venerable Late Roman Bronze Coinage by Carson, Hill and Kent. The most recent reprint 1976 by Spink & Sons LTD. I haven't checked on availability of this one recently, I purchased mine in the mid '80's.

These issues are really amazing in their shear volume and breath of design. Throw in the many mints that struck them, off you go to a real challenge and rewards. This is my hobby, I do it for fun. Look at as many as you can find, if you can decipher the poorly struck ones, the rest are much easier.

 

Its II. I still get tricked up on these

 

Use the RIC lists!

 

GGgrrrrr....

 

Yep...I shouldn't have taken it to a certain point and then guesstimated from there. I should have completely put down what I was doing and concentrated. It requires my full attention.