Constantine campgate from Siscia with lots of rows

Awesome campgates everyone. it's funny, that for years I have loved campgates, but have never really specifically collected them...campgates happen though.


This one is not special for the rows, but it has eagles on the turret. When it is eventually dispersed with the rest of my collection, it will forever be known as "from the collection of a Southern gentleman"



Diocletian
A.D. 295
AR Argenteus
19mm 3.3g
DIOCLETIANVS AVG; laureate head right.
VICTORIAE SARMATICAE; four turreted camp-gate, open, with doors thrown back; each turret surmounted by facing eagle.
In ex. SMNΓ
RIC VI Nicomedia 22a


and something for any modern collectors who are accidentally looking at this post

This 10 euro coin was issued by a bank in Trier, Germany, to mark the 1700 year anniversary of Constantine's residence in that city, and was accepted by most businesses in the city until 31 March 2008.

The reverse is the Porta Nigra, an ancient Roman gate for the city of Treveri, now called Trier.



Constantine I
A.D. 2007
30mm 9gm
Obv. CONSTANTI-NVS P F AVG
Rev. KONSTANTINTHALER 2007 SPARKASSE TRIER CITY-INITIATIVE TRIER e. V.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Here siscia campgate coins :
coins 1,2,4,5,and 6 are RIC VII 214, nr 3 is RIC 215.
All of the siscia campgate coins have dots around the outline of the building.
Not always good visible. ( i have aprox. 250 of siscia campgates )
the difference between coin 2 and 3 , and between 4 and 5 is the number of vertical stones at the top of the building.
Number 6 has 16 horizontal layers.

 

I think we have a winner for most rows ever...congrats. Now, I must find an example!

 

I'm a little late...but here's my contribution to this thread!

I originally wanted this coin when I saw it in the previous Gorny & Mosch auction, but for one reason or another, I forgot about the auction start time and missed the lot. Luckily, a fellow CTer who knew I wanted the coin informed me that it was available in a dealer's inventory and I purchased it.

As my collection is fairly small, this is my only coin from the argenteus family. It is also my only coin that depicts a campgate.

Constantine I (AD 307/310-337)
AR Half Argenteus

Date: AD 306-307
Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder.
Rev: VIRTVS MILITVM, four-turreted campgate; no doors; TR.
Diameter: 15mm
Weight: 1.6 grams
Mint: Trier mint, 1st officina
Ex Praefectus Coins
Ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 276 (19 April 2021), lot 645.
Ex Credit Suisse Bern Auction 4 (4 December 1985), lot 624.
Ex British Museum

 

better late than never...congrats on the new addition-- if you are only going to have one it is a great choice. Your mintmark is TR though, not PTR.

and the most appropriate meme I could think of on the spot--

 

Nice pedigree, but I wonder why they deaccessioned it?

 

they may have had more than one example, like the sale below--

 

I really object to listing of coins with centration dots as separate varieties. The dots are what they are, no perhaps.

I believe my favorite Campgate is this Flavius Victor from Arles. I call it the 'Campgate of Dr. Caligari'.

 

Yes, I suppose, although they still retain many duplicates of much more common types. I'm guessing value may have something to do with it.

I'm really not enthused about some of the ways museums operate such as this selling of things that may have well been gifted to them in the first place, or in this day and age not at least putting everything online rather than hoarded in the basement.

 

I object to your objection...in fact I find it very objectionable

The reason I note it, is because maybe, just maybe, it is more than a remnant of the engraving process. I have also looked at a lot of Constantinople campgates and not noticed an example before.

there are lots of campgates with dots and they can't all be centering dots.

here is a coin with dot in bottom of doorway and dot in arch over brick. the dot in brick is smaller...maybe a centering dot...but I note both dots.




here's one with a dot in doorway and one in brick over arch on either side.



info in RIC about Rome dots, though some may be merely centering dots.



Antioch campgates have fat dots in archways...are they centering dots?



plenty of other examples out there.

So, if I am completely sure it is a centering dot, I don't mention, otherwise I make note.

 

...or more accurately, campgate motherload!

 

it's just been diagnosed as a disorder-- Compulsive Campgate Collecting Disorder...or CCCD

 

...love it!!!

 

I'm sure some members have ex-Dattari campgates, but none have been posted. Here is one from Alexandria, no surprise given his interest in that city, with unusual dots on the turrets.



Crispus
A.D. 325-6
19x20mm 2.3g
FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left.
PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; camp gate with two turrets and star between them.
in ex. SMALB
RIC VII Alexandria 35

 

My last post remined me that I had some more provenanced campgates and in an effort to rebut criticisms on FAC that this board is too frivolous, I insist that you learn something numismatic from this post...no frivolity.

I recently acquired a large group of ex-Peter Weiß...if you do not know who that is, you must not be interested in Constantinian era history; but if that's not true, then you should read "The Vision of Constantine." Journal of Roman Archeology 16, 2003, pp. 237-259.

Here is the first one, from Siscia, like my first coin in this topic. This example has fewer rows, but does have dots in the top row and what I think might be an attempt to simulate crenellations --





Constantine II
A.D. 328- 329
18x19mm 2.8g
CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C; laureate head right.
PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; camp gate, two turrets, no doors, star above.
In ex. ESIS double crescent
RIC VII Siscia 216


and a Crispus from Arles---




Crispus
A.D. 324- 325
19mm 3.2gm
FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; camp gate with four turrets and star between them; open doors.
in ex. S✶AR
RIC VII Arles 266

note the errant dot on obverse between the bust and first letter of the legend.



The majority of the coins I got, including the next campgate, have similar patinas and lots of silvering; which makes it seem like they could be from the same hoard. I was researching two not in RIC and not campgate coins and discovered that they appear to be plate coins for the Bikić-Do Hoard. It is hard to be sure that they are not merely just die matches though because of the way the photos in the book were edited, with some of the edges missing.

The Bikić-Do Hoard was discovered in Serbia in 1952. There were 10,590 coins, mostly from Eastern mints. 22 coins dated before A.D. 318 and 9 after A.D. 324. There were no Licinius IOVI types retarrifed to 12 and a half. I looked quickly through the book and the latest coin I saw was a two standards GLORIA EXERCITVS from Heraclea, struck A.D. 331, which gives an idea for the date the hoard was buried; though as mentioned earlier, almost all the coins were from A.D. 318- 324.

Sirmium VIII. Études de Numismatique Danubienne: Trésors, Lingots, Imitations. Monnaies de Fouilles IV au XII Siècle (Rome: Ecole francaise de Rome, 1978)

As an aside, this is a great reference for Constantinian VLPP coinage from Siscia.

Here is the campgate that I suspect was part of the hoard. As I mentioned, the other coins have similar surfaces with lots of silvering, and the silvering is one aspect of the hoard that was noted in the book, and mostly from Eastern mints. It would probably be better for demonstration purposes if I posted the other coins, but it is about 15 in total.




Unfortunately I do not know how the hoard was dispersed and find no records of it, though it is certainly credible that Peter Weiß could have obtained a few examples.

 

Hah, interesting timing in finding this thread, I just learned the term "Campgate" a few hours ago. I was cataloging recent sale prices of Constantine era bronzes, and I noticed that some were inexplicably more expensive than others. I soon realized that the outliers tended to have that very distinctive brick wall design on the reverse. Getting "Campgate" from the coin descriptions, I decided that these coins should be evaluated differently than most of the rest.

Is my general observation about pricing correct? Either way, this is still a pretty strange coincidence considering that this is the first time I've hopped on Cointalk in the last 2 years. It's stuff like this that makes me more and more think that this whole reality might actually be a crazy simulation!

 

Yes, campgates can get pricey (but so can many series) depending on rarity and quality. Collectors also look for tiny variations that elevate otherwise common coins.

As an example, besides focusing on rows, one can obsess over doors. Bruun noted 20 different door types in "The Constantinian Coinage of Arelate" though I bet there are a few more variations than those he noted.






two example that I have sold, illustrating door variations--



Constantine I
A.D. 325- 6
19mm 3.2gm
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right.
VIRTV-S AVGG, campgate with wide open doors, four turrets, star above.
In ex. SA crescent RL
RIC VII Arles 291




Crispus
A.D. 325- 326
18x20mm 2.7gm
CRISPVS NOB CAES; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left.
VIRTVS CAESS; camp gate with four turrets and star between them; open doors.
in ex. TA crescent RL
RIC VII Arles 292

 

You guys got me interested in Campgates and I was planning on adding one to my collection. I recently purchased a batch of mid to late empire slabbed coins somewhat site-unseen. They showed up in the mail today and, lo and behold, there were 2 Campgates in there! Lucky me

Constantius II and Constantine I:

 

I certainly agree that «camp gates happen»....

The Galerius argentus from Nicomedia has the most rows among mine, and is on par with Victor with 15.

 

I had to resurrect this thread because--



This campgate has 17 rows to the right side of the doorway and 16 rows to the left. Also dots in top row and long block over doorway.



Constantius II
A.D. 326- 327
19mm 3.4g
FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left.
PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; camp gate with two turrets and star between them; • in doorway.
in ex. SMANT[H]
RIC VII Antioch 74