Okay, so I my coin dealer recently came across this ancient coin. He knows I like them so, since he doesn't have time to identify it, he gave it to me to have. I'm 99% sure its Roman, although which emperor/dictator it was I don't know. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry they aren't the greatest pictures. Its as good as I can get on this worn of a coin with a cheap camera. Thanks, Lincoln
Can you try to get bigger pictures of the coin? I tried to identify it but can not as the details are to small. Regards, Stan
I'm at school right now and can't get this computer to do anything but I'll post some bigger ones ASAP. Probably be around ten or so (work first).
If this site is right, it's from sometime between 357 and 261 AD, and it depicts either Constantius II or Julian II. I can't really read the legend in the pictures you posted, so I can't tell which. Let me know if you can make out anything or get clearer pictures. The reverse says "SPES REIPVBLICE" which I think means "Hope of the Republic", and it surrounds the emperor standing and holding a globe and spear. In the exergue, you'll find the mintmark, ΓSIS, which means that it was made by the 3rd officina of the Siscia mint.
A tip: Even if you could not read the Constantius on this coin (its pretty clear), the fact that the portrait has headgear means the coin is of the Augustus Constantius rather than the Caesar Julian. When Julian became Augustus, he changed the reverse types so they are only available in his name with the bare head of the lesser office. The same trick works for types shared between Constantius II and Constantius Gallus. There are coins of the same type that overlap Gallus and Julian so a bare head can require a couple letters to separate but the diadem means it is Constantius II.
http://s742.photobucket.com/home/tylerpenland hopefully this link will work. not sure. never used photobucket before. if not maybe this one http://s742.photobucket.com/albums/xx70/tylerpenland/"
Ok, looks like Dougsmit found it. It has the SPESREI PVBLICE on the reverse with the RSIS mintmark. Also look like Constantine's head. Anybody know if this one is rare and/or any value it might hold? Doesn't appear to be very rare.
First of all, the first letter is actually gamma. Most mints used Greek letters to number the officinae. During the fourth century, portraits became very standardized, so you usually can't tell one emperor from another by portrait, so you will indeed see plenty of coins of Constantine, Constantine II, Constans, Constantius II, Julian II, and many more that look pretty much like that. As for value, just about all coins of Constantius II are very common, and they aren't worth much unless they're in great shape. This might be worth around $5.
