Going through some of my odds and ends I have this smallish, Ae 3 bronze of some member of the Constantine family, coins of whom I often have trouble distinguishing one from another. The obverse has a name I can make out, CONSTANTINUS, followed by what looks to me like IVN NOBC. The reverse is almost impossible for me to make out. Dead center appears to be a small (V)OTA with an x below it. The inscription has CAESAR ????OSTD????. I weighs 3.3 grams. Can anyone help me out with what and who exactly this is? Thanks.
Another hint: use this excellent site for identifying LRBs: https://www.tesorillo.com/aes/_rev/index1.htm
Wild guess on my part Constantius II, AE follis, Thessalonica. FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right. CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around VOT dot X within wreath. Mintmark TS delta VI. RIC VII Thessalonica 125 var (unlisted for Constantius II)
Constantine II and Constantius II were brothers. Their names are so similar it can be hard to distinguish their coins if the legends are not sharp. But, this one is sharp enough. It's Constantine II ("Junior"). CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C CAESARVM NOSTRORVM
Four IVN's we can collect Licinius II Constantine II Constantius Gallus Valentinian II Each of these people also issued some coins without the IVN. Are there others?
Found your coin on the bay https://www.ebay.com/itm/234108527899?hash=item3681f4a51b:g:rpQAAOSwX5RhAXoD
With the added info, I guess it is: Constantine II, AE3, 324, Thessalonica, Officina 2 CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust left CAESARVM NOSTRORVM Legend surrounding laurel wreath terminating in large jewel enclosing VOT / . / X TSBVI in exergue 18mm x 19mm, 3.01g RIC VII, 128
That dot is probably an artifact left behind by a compass used to arrange the letters of the reverse inscription in a circle. It is not considered a design element or control mark.
Is that statement applicable to the dot in all cases? There is a coin just like this with a dot called out in the attributes.
Sometimes the dot is part of a mint mark. Sometimes it's a control mark. On rare occasions it's used to separate words in an inscription. And sometimes, to paraphrase Freud, a dot is just a dot. It's usually--but not always--clear when a dot is significant and when it's just an artifact. The fact that the reverse is laid out in such a nice circle and the dot is right in the center of it is why most collectors assume that it's not important in distinguishing different issues.