Hi, Whilst taking a Sunday stroll in Paris I stumbled upon a type of yard sale in the street. They call them; vides-greniers which as I understand directly means empty attic. It was a complete mix of items from seller to seller. I noticed a large bin of coins for 20 centimes each. I spent about one hour going through the lot... And to my surprise some great coins come out the bin. I found 20 coins in total that I like the look of. This one is the only Roman: Constantine II follis from Arles mint, 336 A.D. RIC 395 The image I have provided is not the coin I have, however mine is identical in every aspect. My problem is I cannot find the coin on any websites apart from one seller on ebay. The guy lists the coin as "extremely rare" (when I see this normally) alarm bells ring however compared to other Roman coins of the period this one has quite a price attached to it. What I would like if possible is to see the actual coin listed with information other than the single seller I can find. Anyone have one of these? thanks in advance.
mine still has a crust of material in most of the detailed parts of the coin. I have no intentions of cleaning it but its clear there is much better detail under the crud. Any advice please? I can see most of the detail in the linked image however mine is coated in a clay type material in places.
thank you. It is unusual because I find some sources dont even have this ruler or period of Constantine II in the data on coins. I will be honest I have no clue about Roman coins. I simply purchased it because of the circumstances.
I think it's RIC 382.. 395 only has one standard. I couldn't find any sold in a couple minutes searching and RIC lists it as R5 so maybe it is quite rare.
Ok thanks. Do you know how rarity ratings are applied to Roman coins? Sheldon R-5 Rare (31-75 examples) It seems unlikely the sheldon scale is used on Roman coins?
Nice find for 20 centimes, that's for sure!! The key detail is the chi-rho between the standards on the reverse... this makes it a rather early appearance of a Christian symbol on a coin. Ajax is right that it's RIC 382, Constantine II as Caesar. Arles was renamed "Constantina" by Constantine the Great, in honour of Constantine II's birth, which explains the strange mintmark: PCONST. (The P is for the first officina or mint division.) This early chi-rho type was only minted at Arles. (Note that the chi-rho isn't part of the design, rather it's some sort of control mark. There are lots of them: stars, leaves, crosses, etc.) Here's the same type for Constans (RIC 384), but second officina: And here's the relevant bit of RIC: One of our CT members is an expert on these, @Valentinian. Here is his excellent page on early Christian types, yours is #1.11.
You're right, it's not the Sheldon scale. R5 in RIC means they only knew of one example. Those rarity ratings are out of date, esp. for the family of Constantine, but this is still a very rare coin.
Wow thank you very much for your time. I am over the moon . The information you have kindly provided is exactly what I was looking for. What are the chances of finding that? My theory is the coin bin was so big and the coin quite small others simply missed it. Talking about R5 coins in the lot of 20 I have another with the same rating. However it does not match exactly the alignment of the R5 type for that coin. It seems in between the two types but thats another story. When I get home and have access to a suitable camera I will take some photos for you to see. My example of the Constantine does have some wear to the chi-rho symbol.
You're most welcome! That coin is rather a specialist item, so lots of knowledgeable people would have missed it. (Note that it's Constantine II... if you say "Constantine" people assume you're talking about Constantine I.) Also, you shouldn't have fantasies about selling it for a thousand bucks. I got mine for a hundred, from a dealer who knew what it was. I think that was a good deal, and it's certainly a big premium over your average GLORIA EXERCITVS type, but specialist items are just that, i.e. not in overwhelming demand. This type is historically significant, your other R5 probably isn't, so would command even less of a premium. But I look forward to seeing the photos!
I think I also have a Celtic coin maybe from Armorica. But I cant find anything online for that one and I have no camera here. Its small with a black appearance. 3 soldiers/hunters with spears. And a bust with that celtic style. Also I have 6 Double tournois from the bin, 2 really nice coins from the 6. I have one Double tournois identical to the attached image also in similar grade mine has complete date, also mine has a complet rim and much finer detail. The coin in the image the lettering and numbers appear somewhat thick. Mine is well defined but fine/thin lettering. A pleasing coin to look at none the less.
This 1642 Charles II de Gonzague, double tournois reads CHARLES. II. DVC. D. MANT. S. DAR starting at roughly 7 o´clock. The example I have is slightly different a bit closer to 6 o´clock. The small note on the image states a type with CHARLES. II. DVC. D. MANT. S. DAR starts at 6 o´clock with R5 rating.. voila
Ok I understand thank you. I have no intention of selling the coin. Its my first Roman. I only purchased it because you dont see them everyday and the price. Really appreciate your help guys.
