First Known Coin of Helena II

You make some very good points I'd say.

 

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Rasiel Suarez posted the below on Moneta regarding this coin:

I was alerted to this auction today and after taking a good look at it I think the cataloguer got a little carried away with his excitement. At this point I'm questioning whether it's even silver at all and not just simply another off-color AE3. But that's the least of it. Everything about the style seems to pin it to the same small window of time when the coins of Theodora were made, circa 340. Strike two, the Aeternitas motif is much more in keeping with recent mourning than the celebratory tone of ascendance. But perhaps most damning of all is the lack of a mintmark which to me suggests that the issue was never meant to be part of circulation but a special distribution. If this is correct - and there are contemporary parallels in the mysterious run of anonymous siliquae - this again suggests a simple memorial (perhaps related to the festivities in Constantinople) of a beloved empress.

Still, no doubt an interesting addition to the vast corpus of 4th century Roman coinage!

Ras

 

Some followup:

This coin sold for £19,000. With 17.5% buyer's premium, £22,325 (~$36,800 USD).

 

Did the auction house use a spectrum analyser (or whatever it's called)?