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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Victor_Clark, post: 24640550, member: 10613&quot;]Yes, some of these can look very childish; but my favorites are examples that can be hard to distinguish from official coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is an unrecorded combination of dies, commonly referred to as a mule. Obverse is likely Trier 540 and the reverse is a Constantinopolis Trier 543. It is most likely that this coin, though in very good style, is unofficial.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567921[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantius II</p><p>Circa A.D. 332- 333</p><p>19mm&nbsp; 2.0g</p><p>FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C; laureate and cuirassed bust right.</p><p>REV: Victory stg. on prow, holding long scepter in r. hand, and resting l. hand on shield.</p><p>in ex. TR•P</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This coin was a plate coin (#452MG) in Failmezger’s&nbsp; <b>Roman Bronze Coins: From Paganism to Christianity 294-364 A.D. </b>I’m sure that it is unofficial.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567922[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Magnentius</p><p>Circa A.D. 350- 353</p><p>19mm 3.2g</p><p>DN MAGNENTIVS P F AVG; bare-headed, draped and cuirassed, A behind bust.</p><p>GLORIA ROMANORV; Magnentius on horseback spearing barbarian.</p><p>In ex. RPLG</p><p>Cf. RIC VIII Lyons 115</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This Constantine II is in good style, but bust left is not in RIC for this issue. The reverse style is very strange for Ticinum, especially the large turrets.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567923[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Constantine II</p><p>A.D. 326</p><p>18x19mm 2.6gm</p><p>CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left.</p><p>PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; camp gate with two turrets and star between them.</p><p>In ex. T crescent T</p><p>Cf. RIC VII Ticinum 200</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a Magnentius that is not bad, but has a few issues.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567924[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Magnentius</p><p>A.D. 350-3</p><p>20x21mm 4.0gm</p><p>D N MAGNENTIVS P F AV[G]; bare-headed, draped &amp; cuirassed bust right, A behind bust.</p><p>SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES; large Chi-Rho flanked by N-W</p><p>In ex. TRP</p><p>Cf. RIC VIII Trier 320</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a Constantine I that would pass a casual inspection</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567925[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Constantine I</p><p>Circa A.D. 332-3</p><p>15x16mm 2.0g</p><p>CONSTAN-TINVS AVG; rosette-diadem, draped and cuirassed bust.</p><p>GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS; Two soldiers helmeted, stg. facing one another, reversed spear in outer hands, inner hands on shields resting on the ground; between them two standards.</p><p>in ex. TR • P</p><p>RIC VII Trier ---</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This coin has been overstruck and the style looks good; but it would be remarkable if it was official, as mint overstrikes for this period are almost non-existent. The undertype is not really visible, but it might be an IOVI type issued 321- 324, but since London is further than these might have normally circulated and pretty far outside of the territory of Licinius, maybe an earlier issue like a Sol type.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1567926[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Crispus.&nbsp; Æ Follis (22mm, 3.44 g, 6h). Londinium (London) mint. Struck AD 324. Laureate head right / VOT/X in two lines within laurel wreath; PLON(crescent). Cf. RIC VII 291</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes unofficial coins from this period look very close in style to official coinage. Pierre Bastien in “Imitations of Late Roman Bronze Coins, 318-363.” ANSMN 30(1985) said this about imitations of the 318 reform and the Magnentian period...&quot;the forgers sometimes engrave portraits of a quality close to that of the originals and some reverses cannot be distinguished from those of regular coins.&quot; So, sometimes you can never really be sure, but must rely on a “gut feeling”.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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