Aquired My White Whale

One of my favorite mini-collection projects (anyone have a better phrase? Not liking "mini-collection", but it's the best I could think of) is an AE type-set for Valentinian III. I'm within spitting distance of completing it, even the unlisted variants, types & series that I'm aware of. One type, in particular, had been eluding & mocking me: an AE3/4 seemingly from Trier with a degraded 'GLORIA ROMANORVM' legend & featuring the Emp. in Mill. dress, Stg. F., Hd. R., leaning on an Inv. Gr. spear in R., L. on Gr. shield, L. Ft. on tiny prow, sometimes (as possibly on mine) star in R-field, in-ex: TR (or MD?). I missed out on the last one that was offered; bidding got out off control. I'm aware of 4 examples total; RIC X lists one without referencing or picturing it, another was in a French article focusing on unlisted types of Theodisius II, a 3rd (mentioned above) was listed at auction a bit ago & the 4th having been recently offered & aquired by me. If anyone is aware of more examples, please, please, please share.

Purchased from Nummitra (fast becoming my favorite House to cherry-pick. Hats of to anyone representing them that happens to read this!). Listed at 14 mm & 1.57 g, though I have yet to verify that.

-RIC X: 2166, confirmation required. (erroneously: listed as V9 obverse, should be V2; clumped in with a type of Theodisius II with which it does not belong; & listed as Re-leg "VRTVS RO-MANORVM" instead of "GLORIA...")
-Sear V: 21337 (erroneously: listed as "VRTVS...")
-LRBC: 176 (erroneously: listed as "VRTVS RO-..."; showing a Theo. II variant with a hand holding a Wr. above the bust that I do not think exists. It seems to be confusing a similar siliqua?; & as a broken Ob leg)
-DO: /
All erroneously list the type as holding a standard & standing the wrong way, presuming it to be a variant of the Theo. II type. An example showing the left side of the reverse legend was not known to Kent by the writing of RIC X, but subsequently revealed itself.

Now, the problem with the listings above (besides, but related to, the issues enbracketed), is that they all clump the Val. III type in with a (slightly) more common Theo. II type that definitively is from Trier & that had parallel types in Ag for them both. But they are clearly not the same type! At all! Putting aside the obvious stylistic differences (Trier had a very distinct style during this time, especially the portraits), the Theo. II type has the Emp. Stg 1/2 R. with a standard & shield & no prow. For Theo. II, the legend is, presumably, regular, not bastardized, & reads 'VRTVS RO-..." while the Val. III type is supposed to read 'GLORIA RO-MANORVM', though garbled. The Ag examples for them both from Trier have a vaguely similar legend & features to the Val. AE, but not that similar. The other Val. III examples lack anything resembling a clear MM, & mine isn't that much better (though probably the best). But, combining what can be seen of the MM on all examples, applying some common sense & taking the style & fabric into account, I would suggest a mint of Milan, or maybe Ravenna, instead. As opposed to a single, lone, very rare type in AE for Val. III from Trier, where AE was not, & would not be, struck. I would also suggest a mid to later date in Val.'s reign, presumably either after AE ceased to be struck at Rome, or during a prolonged hiatus where AE was not struck at Rome. We know such a thing very likely happened, but not why, when or if it happened in the middle, or at the end, of his reign. Personally, I think it was a break in the middle. I base this on some rarer types that have his "DN PLA ..." ob but usually have his "DN VAL..." ob combined with regular die-matching/style-matching Ob.s to Re.s that shows a progression that simply stops & then resumes with new & drastically different Ob & Re types, of significantly worse style, lettering & spelling & on a flan with a new & distinct fabric (triangular & chunky). I am not aware of a study, but I also highly suspect that metallurgical testing would show a clear difference. We know that either after or during Val.'s reign, AE all but ceased to be struck at Rome for some time. In fact, it seems that, except for some VERY rare & questionably attributed-to-Rome AE4 for Marcian & Leo I (that sure as heck look like they were struck at Milan, & sure as heck seem to have a MM attesting to as much, & that had parallel types that were struck at Milan &/or Ravenna...) & some imaginary pieces for Avitus (that don't actually exist), there was no more AE struck at Rome until Anthemius' reign, & then not after that until Ostrogothic rule. When struck, Milan & Ravenna handled AE for the region. And, given the circumstances of his ascension, it is quite possible that Anthemius chose to resume striking AE at Rome after a hiatus of several decades for political reasons. Research & discussion on the topic is, unfortunately, very much lacking. I would love to hear the thoughts of those who know more on the subject than I. Frankly, any opinion will do.

Having also recently aquired an Odovacar monogram (name of Zeno version, not the one in his name. Still good enough for the likes of me!), I'm kind of left without an immediate next-big-thing to aquire. It's a weird feeling, contentment. I do have a large stack of "newly" acquired coins to catalogue & put in their places that I have been putting off for far too long (don't have kids...). More than a few that I'd like to share here. I'm hoping to go on a bit of a posting-spree, so please forgive the coming onslaught of posts about terrible Late LRBCs if they are not your cup of tea. I'm sure a return the your regularly scheduled classical-works-of-beautiful-art-coins from earlier, happier, times will commence immediately following. Which is probably for the best.

 

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Attached are my screenshots of the other examples that I'm aware of. Again, RIC does not picture their example. Sear referances RIC for the type & LRBC is presumably the same ex as RIC.

1st pic is from Bertolami Fine Art, Auction 105, Lot 2900, October of 2021. €550 hammer

2nd pic is from a French article that declares I reference it as such:
Jean-Marc Doyen. Avec la coll. de R. CAMPO, M. MOREAU & A. SFERRAZZA, Bronzes inédits
d’Honorius et de Valentinien III. Bulletin du Cercle d’Études Numismatiques, 2015, 52 (2), pp.24-29.