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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lrbguy, post: 3976423, member: 88829&quot;](continue)</p><p><br /></p><p>Fausta (I)</p><p><br /></p><p>The coins of Fausta are mostly not particularly rare, but assembling a complete set from all the mints in all the main types is a bit of a challenge.&nbsp; Among the earliest are the star and wreath reverses from Thessalonika, which were issued in 318-319 ahead of the more common SPES reverses a few years later.&nbsp; This issue comes with and without the letters of the mintmark appearing on the reverse.&nbsp; The coins with the completely anepigraphic reverse (RIC 51) are slightly more common than those with the exergual mark TSA below the wreath-tie (RIC 49).&nbsp; I managed to acquire a reasonable example of the one in 2018, and a similar example with mint mark in 2019.&nbsp; Since I have never shown either before, they are here.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046642[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046643[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Fausta (II)</p><p><br /></p><p>Among the REPVBLICAE issues for Fausta and Helena, the most elusive are those from the mint at London.&nbsp; I missed out on an item CNG offered a short while back.&nbsp; I was set to bid a number well above the price at which it sold, but I was prevented by another commitment from entering the sale in time.&nbsp; It was a beauty.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fortunately, they soon offered another example in lesser grade.&nbsp; On the principle that anything is better than nothing I went for it, and snagged it for a fraction of what the first one would have cost.&nbsp; Make no mistake, I would rather have gotten the first one, but this gets me over the hump.&nbsp; So, after more than a decade of assembling my set of her issues by mint, for all 14 mints, the Fausta from London was finally able to be added.&nbsp;&nbsp; First officina.&nbsp; That puts her ahead of Helena, for whom I have three times as many coins but none from London.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046644[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Theodora</p><p><br /></p><p>Theodora was effectively a step-daughter to Maximian, and became the second wife of Constantius I, in order to tighten up the familial connections in the First Imperial Tetrarchy.&nbsp; She was not the mother of Constantine, and this had dire consequences for her progeny after Constantine died.&nbsp; In an effort to remove alternative familial claimants to the imperial throne, the sons of Constantine arranged to have all the eligible claimants to an imperial title from Theodora’s line executed.&nbsp; But not before they honored her and the first wife of Constantius I, Helena their grandmother,&nbsp; in an issue of coinage which for Helena was certainly commemorative, and for Theodora most probably so.&nbsp; These coins are quite diminutive and fine strikes are the exception rather than the rule.&nbsp; There are several varieties of the coins of Theodora from two mints, and I have been trying to get well struck examples of each.&nbsp; This coin is RIC VIII 43 from Trier, distinguished by the use of a square cross in the left field on the reverse. It is one of very few from that mint I have seen which is well struck.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046645[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Galla Placidia</p><p><br /></p><p>The mother of Valentinian III, she served as regent of the western provinces for the first 12 years of his reign, in the early to middle 5th century,&nbsp; and finished her career in civic improvement in Ravenna.&nbsp; She stood in high regard with Christians of the 5th century.&nbsp; Imperial bronze coinage for the very late Roman empire is generally not well preserved and can be hard to come by.&nbsp; This coin is rather typical in that regard.&nbsp; It is not yet in my hands, so I am a bit apprehensive about mentioning it, but it was one of my 2019 purchases I am well pleased to have made. (seller photo)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046646[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I will create a separate thread for my top ten list of 2019 acquisitions for coins not listed in RIC.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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