This is my 1st coin of this Emperor. Why did I buy it ? 1) it was missing in my collection 2) I’m a romantic ( rome antique...) guy and I like stories with happy endings. 24 mm Thessalonica 350 AD DN VETRANIO PF AVG VIRTVS EXERCITVM TSA RIC 126a Now about the story : Vetranio was born im Moesia and was not very well educated. Eutropius wrote that he was “so ignorant of the liberals arts, of all things, that he would not even acquire the first elements of literature until he was old and become emperor”. He served in the army under Constantine I ; under Constans he became a magister militum. Around 350 AD, Magnentius started a revolt. Constans had to run away, but finally he was captured and killed. His brother Constantius II was certainly not crying, be he was kind of busy with the Persians near the eastern borders of the empire. Constantia, Constans sister, is now getting very nervous and she is wondering who could protect herself and her family against the usurper... so she asked the old Vetranio to become ‘Cesar’. But the man finally decided it was not enough ; he accepted the purple and became ‘emperor’. We also have to remember that Constantia hated her only surviving brother ( she became a widow after Constantius killed her ex-husband Hannibalianus). Vetranio is now being courting by both Magnentius and Constantius, who offered him to share the empire with him. They agreed to discuss this matter face to face, and they met in Serdica on December 25th 350. Constantius came almost alone, but he was bringing with him mountains of gold...to bribe the new emperor’s army. The poor guy lost it all when all his generals and troops acclaimed Constantius as the only and unique emperor. Probably because of his popularity within the legions, his life was spared and even more than that : he was sent in Bithynia on a state pension for his retirement, and lived his last 6 years in peace and happiness as a private citizen..... Please post your coins of Vetranio or your examples of other emperor’s happy ending stories !
Nice one, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix ! I'm glad you added one to your collection. This portrait makes him look criminal: Vetranio AD 350 Roman AE maiorina; 4.77 g, 24mm Siscia, AD 350 Obv: D N VETRA-NIO P F AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right; A to left Rev: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Vetranio standing left, holding labarum in each hand; star above; A to left; in exergue: •ΓSIS✷ Refs: RIC 281; LRBC 1168; Cohen 1; RCV 18903.
Nice examples @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix and @Roman Collector. Here are the only two examples I have: VETRANIO AE3 OBVERSE: DN VETRA-NIO PF AVG Laureate bust right REVERSE: VIRTVS AV-G-VSTORVM Emperor bare head and in military dress standing right, holding spear and globe and kicking a seated captive, mintmark officina letter and SIS Struck at Siscia 350 AD 2.7g, 17.5mm RIC 296 (Siscia), LRBC 1182 VETRANIO AE3 OBVERSE: DN VETRANIO P F AVG - Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right REVERSE: VIRTVS EXERCITVM Exe: TES - Vetranio standing left, holding labarum and resting hand on shield Struck at Thessalonica 350 AD 4.0g, 24mm RIC 138, LRBC 1652
Vetranio was indeed a lucky one! I got mine on my first ever visit to CNG's shop, many years ago. They were pricier back then...
Nice coin @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix ! And great writeup! I do not have a good one... just a slot filler... RIVetranio350 CE AE3 17mm Siscia mint Emp stdng hldg Standard and Spear
@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix - congrats on your happy ending and thanks for write-up! I have a Vetranio - with a twist that may add to your story a reason for the happy ending which included a grand estate in Bithynia and six years of luxury retirement - a note from Roman Coins & Their Values V p187: "This type was issued under the stop-gap emperor, Vetranio who opposed Magnentius' eastern advances before abdicating in favor of Constantius II on 25 December AD 350. The remarkable reverse legend "In this sign you will be the victor", with its clear allusion to Constantine's vision before his victory over Maxentius in AD 312, provides firm evidence of Vetranio's loyalty to Constantius" Constantius II Æ Centenionalis, Siscia, AD 350 Struck under Vetranio Obv: DN CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right, A behind, * in front Size: 5.64g, 22.5mm Rev: HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS, Constantius standing left, in military attire, holding labarum and spear, being crowned by Victory; A in left field, •ASIS• in exergue Ref: RCV 18203
Yes, the prices of Vetranio's AE2's have come down a lot. Here is my site on all the AE types of Vetranio. There are only six. http://augustuscoins.com/ed/vetranio/Vetranio.html The most important type is this one: Vetranio RIC Siscia 281 (A behind bust, mintmark <dot>BSIS* with A in left field) 23 mm. 4.86 grams. 11:30. The first overtly Christian legend. A small chi-rho on a standard (a "labarum") held by the emperor who is being crowned by Victory, with the legend consisting of the famous words reportedly said by God to Constantine in his vision before the decisive battle of the Milvian bridge: HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS (beginning at 7:00) ("With the sign, you will be victorious"). Struck by Vetranio in 350. For more of the Christian-connection story, see: http://augustuscoins.com/pages/edit/coins/ed/Christian/ChristianSymbols2.html
Wow! Very interesting site @Valentinian . Just one question: in another thread, @zumbly showed us an error legend coin with “VERTAN-IO”. I read a while ago that there was only one example of this mistake. Do you know if more of them has been discovered ? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/legend-error.338735/
I have a couple of examples of this error type in my collection. Not sure how rare they are though. They didn't cost much in comparison to normal Vetranio pieces. One I bought from Wayne Sayles and one I bought from Mark Reid (Time Machine), so I'm pretty confident they are the real deal. Here's the type: BTW, have you ever seen a Vetranio in silver (a siliqua)?
Seen yes. Touch no. The last one I remember being sold 2 years ago went for almost 1100 $....way over my budget !
Here is my siliqua for Vetranio: It was a kick getting it (very reasonably at the time) but the Vetranio item I covet to this day is a particular heavy miliarense. Let me explain: In RIC VIII, the late John Kent illustrated Thessalonika 125, which is a heavy miliarense: If you look carefully the features of both sides of that coin are nearly identical to the two large bronzes I showed you. The physical dimensions of a heavy miliarense often fall in the same range as the dimensions of the bronzes I showed. More to the point, however, is that this particular miliarense shows the same obverse spelling anomaly as is found on these two coins. Could it be a die match on the obverse? I have not seen an actual example of the miliarense, but those obverses sure look similar in the pics. As for the reverses, they too are similar, except that the miliarense does not have the same kind of exergual line as the bronzes. I would love to be able to do a side by side comparison. That is the driver for my interest in such a coin. But at my income bracket I know it is hopelessly out of reach.
Even though they are less rare nowadays, a Vetranio can't be a bad acquisition. Mine isn't exceptionnal, but I bought it while they were quite pricey. At least has it got the HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS reverse as shown by @Valentinian Vetranio, AE2 Siscia mint, 3rd officina DN VETRANIO PF AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right, A - * in field HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS, Vetranio standing left, holding labarum and sceptre, recieving wreath from victory behind him. Dot Gamma SIS dot at exergue 4.46 gr Ref : Cohen # 4, Roman coins # 4042, LRBC # 1174 Q
In regards to prices dropping a lot in the last 5 years, last summer this Vetranio was 30EUR fees and shipping included.
Just a word from the guy who spoils the fun. The Vetranio is a dangerous fake. I have seen three of these including the one I bought and returned for refund. If you see a clone of this one, run. Check your fake reports before buying one of these.
