I have bought a whole nunch of falling horsemen. I thought this one is worthy of sharing due to the plain double strike that has had quite an unusual effect on the bust. Particularly the hair. Constantius II - AE2 Obv:– D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, Pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Helmeted soldier left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield at ground to right. Horseman turns to face the soldier, and reaches his left arm up towards him. He is bare headed. Minted in Heraclea (G | _ // SMHB). Reference:- RIC VIII Heraclea 82 (C2) Double struck. Particluarly evident in the hair and the left shoulder of the bust on the obverse. The double strike means large areas of the reverse are lacking detail. I have never seen the odd effect in the hair where there is detail, then blank and then detail. I am struggling to explain it in the striking process. Despite the double strike the portrait is quite appealing.
I must be blind, but I'm afraid to say I don't see doubling on either side of this coin. His right shoulder (our left) looks strange, but the hair, headband, and face all look pretty normal to me. What am I missing?
Right above the headband, it seems like there was another strike to me. Is that it? Either way, looks really cool.
I believe that the first strike was quite off-centre. It was to the right of the second (mainly visible) strike. The odd bit of hair in the middle of the hair was the rear edge of the hair on the first strike. If you zoom the above image and move from the lips and chin down and right you can see the shadow of the the first strike. This is far more evident on the pterges. On the reverse there is a border of dots (from the first strike) that is inside the second outer border of dots.
