Just another Fallen Horseman

This is one of two coins that arrived today.

This one is an example of an impulse purchase. I don't actively have a focus on LRB or fallen horsemen even though I do seem to added several in recent months. They do not come into my primary focus areas of Eastern Septimius Severus denarii or the Lugdunum coinage of Probus.

This coin comes from Antioch and shows a reaching horseman and I bought it to compare with the clutching horseman I had recently bought. It is a nice example with good centering, a good strike and plenty of detail.

Constantius II - AE2
Obv:– D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed, bust right
Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at right. Horseman is bearded and falls forward reachine towards emperor (type FH3)
Minted in Antioch (Gamma | _ //ANS). A.D. 350-355
Reference:- RIC VIII Antioch 132.



and here is my FH4 for comparison.

Constantius II - AE2
Obv:- DN CONSTAN - TIVS P F AVG, Pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:- FEL TEMP RE - PARATIO, Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at right. Horseman is bearded and falls forward clutching horse's neck (type FH4)
Minted in Antioch. (Gamma | _ //ANB). A.D. 350-355
Reference:- RIC VIII, Antioch 135



This coin was bought as a contrast to my Gallus horseman from Antioch.

Constantius Gallus - AE2
Obv:– DN CONSTANTIVS IVN NOB C, Bare, bust draped and cuirassed right
Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Soldier spearing fallen horseman, who is bare headed, reaching backwards
Minted in Antioch (Gamma | _ // ANA), A.D. 350-355
Reference:– RIC VIII Antioch 137



Martin

 

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Those are all enviable coins. I don't even want to post mine.

 

Ditto to what JWT said. I have a few, but none are as sharp. Not even close. Very nice.

 

Collecting ancient coins is an unpredictable business. Sometimes certain coins just keep falling into your lap. All of these FH's became part of my collection just this year...



Crisp is always nice, but how about rare? I acquired this coin from a fellow board member just last night. Constans (rare), and an FH4 with legend variant - RIC VIII Arles 103 var (rev break, R-EP listed).

 

Very nice coins! I want to buy some LRB's now!!
Here is Constantius II in silver.

 

Ugh, more falling horsemen... j/k those are very nice pieces Martin!

 

Not into them like some others here but that is nice, Martin.

 

Wonderful posts!!!

Martin, those are some of the finest examples I can recall seeing at CT

 

very nice coins OP.. i have 2 of the four types so far,


Constantius II AE2. 348-350 AD. DN CONSTANTIVS PF AVG, diademed, draped, & cuirassed bust right, A behind / FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman, who is sitting on ground, arms up. A in left field. Mintmark AQT dot. RIC VIII Aquileia 113/147. (113 and 147 are identical)
Fallen Horseman type FH2
25.8mm 6.0g

and

Constantius II AE2, 348-350 AD
DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman who is
bearded, wears cap, reaching backwards.
Mintmark: SMNA; Gamma in left field.
RIC VIII Nicomedia 84,
Fallen Horseman type FH3
22.53mm 5.1g

 

That's a positively superb example of the FH2 variety.

 

thank you!

 

Actually just found one (fallen horseman)while cleaning my uncleaned Romans. Will post it sometime, but not in such distinguished company!

 

Very nice. Antioch is a mint I "need" and good example of. Here the best I have as of now. I still like it a lot though.

 

CONSTANTIUS II SILVERED AE2 (Maiorina/Centenonialis)
Heraclea mint, 1st Office
348-351 AD
Diameter: Large size: 22 mm
Weight: 5.1 grams
Obverse: : D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right
Reverse: FEL TEMP REPARATIO, soldier standing left, knee raised, spearing fallen horseman and is reaching backwards. Left field: Star. Mintmark SMHA in exergue
Reference: RIC VIII 67



.... this is my only example (the lil' horseman looks quite similar to your 2nd type, Martin)

Oh => great new FH addition (congrats)

 

Usually when someone shows a super nice horseman it will be an Antioch of the large series with gamma in the reverse field. That mint in that year did good work. Finding 14 matching examples from the other mints will be much harder. A comprehensive collection of FH will also have to include some of the small ones from the later years and from mints that simply did not care. JA showed a coin that requires you care about where the legend was split. Several want a set of the four poses of the horseman:

Fewer will want any large number of the 2200 or so variations known. I got to a few over a hundred before I decided that I only needed things I considered interesting and not just different but I suspect most people will never want that many variations of anything.

JA's new Constans is one that carries some controversy as to whether it really is FH4 or the more scarce FH1. The difference is whether the man is slumped over on the horse (FH4) or on the ground in front of the horse (FH1). RIC listings were done with thousands of specimens and the differences may be more clear on really nice coins. The number of really nice, really clear FH1 coins is not large. The number of coins hard to read exactly is larger.

 

I have been puzzling over this one for a while. Is the following coin an FH1? The horseman isn't kneeling on the ground but appears to be kneeling on the front legs of the horse with his hand on the head of the horse. I have this one as a "FH1?". I had thought it FH1 because the horseman's torso goes through the body of the horse.

Constans
Obv:- DN CONSTA-NS P F AVG, Pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right, holding globe in right hand
Rev:- FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, Soldier spearing bare headed horseman left, holding neck of horse with both hands
Minted in Thessalonica, (// TSA*), A.D. 348-350.
Reference:– RIC VIII Thessalonica 116



Regards,
Martin

 

Are the fallen horsemen made under Constantius Gallus, and Julian rarer, or more valuable than the Constantius II ones?

 

Julian is scarce in better grades, Gallus is fairly common, although not anywhere as common as Constantius II.

However, certain mints are very rare for certain emperors. Earlier in the day, Pishpash shared this auction with me. This coin was not only misattributed to Constantius II, but the high bidder certainly appreciated its rarity as a Constans from Amien - a mint that operated only briefly, and issued coins mostly of Magnentius and Decentius.

 

Hm. It would appear that listing was removed. You'll have to take my word for it.

 

thanks