This was one of those coins that i just had to have once I saw it. It's my first campgate, and the details on both sides of the coin really amazed me. I love that lots of the bronze shows through the tone, and gives a good appearance of what these looked like when they circulated in the marketplace. This was in John Anthony's last auction, and it was his opinion that this coin showed no ( or almost no)evidence of past cleaning and I'd have to agree. Somehow it was well preservered for centuries. Constantine II Caesar, AD 324-337; AE19, 3.4g Truer Mint AD 327-328 Obv: FLIVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C Laureate, draped and cuirassesed bust right. Rev: PROVIDENTIAE CAESS Campgate with two turrets and one star above// dot PTRE Reference: RIC VII 514, p.213 Thanks for another great coin John!! I know nothing of Constantine II other than he was a son of Constantine the Great, and now that I have this coin, I have a little research to do! I'd like to see more campgates, or Constantius coins, or whatever you want!!
Wow, nice pickup @Nathan401 ! Beautiful coin, crisp lines and strike, especially on the reverse! Yeah, @John Anthony is always a great go-to for me. Many coins OUT of my collecting habits come from him... he "expands" my horizons in collecting. Otherwise, I doubt that I would have many of the coins if it weren't for his offerings. I got this one from the JA-Man also: RI Constantine I CE 306-337 Æ Follis 19mm 3.2g Siscia CE 326-7 AVG Laureate R - PROVIDENTIAE AVGG Camp gate 2 turrets no door star RIC 200 He misattributed the turrets. They are tripod BBQ Grills... makes me hungry every time!
Cheeky! My recent mistake was much worse, where I initially said a Constantius II was a Crispus! Here's that coin, currently on its way to @Ryro.
Haha! No complaints here (he said with eager anticipation). You can beat barbarians and you can beat drums but you can't beat free! Thanks again SA. It is appreciated and will be paid forward.
I'll pile on with two campgates, Constantine and Arcadius... I noticed that @John Anthony has an Arcadius campgate in this week's auction for a good price. Somebody should pick it up. And yes, by the time of Arcadius the type was getting a bit "tired."
That's a great campgate @Nathan401! Hmm I just realized I don't have a campgate of Constantius II yet. I'll have to change that. I can share this pretty sweet one of Constantine II from Antioch though.
Wow! That certainly stands out!! I just noticed something else. I think this is my first ancient coin with the bust facing left. My fledgling collection is all bust rights. Just a small observation.
I toss in another Constantine II campgate: Constantine II as Caesar, AD 317-337 Roman Æ Centenionalis; 3.86 gm; 18.2 mm Heraclea, AD 327-329 Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, draped and cuirassed bust, right Rev: PROVIDENT-IAE-CAESS, campgate with two turrets, no doors; star above. Dot left field; SMHЄ in exergue. Refs: RIC 96; RCV 17241; Cohen 164
Can anyone tell me what these campgates could purchase back when they were minted? I apologize if this information has already been posted to death.
Without going into the broader context of why a question like this one is often difficult to answer, we have this from Kenneth Harl's book, Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 : "Theophanes, on the staff of the prefect of Egypt, reports that, while traveling on official business in Syria in ca. 317-23, he paid at Antioch prices of 2 nummi for a loaf of bread, 4 to 8 nummi for a pound of meat, and 6 to 14 nummi for a sextarius of wine." A nummus would be a coin like our campgates. Doug's page on the general question covers the topic well: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/worth.html Also, nice coin... I really like those bulky shoulder pads they used at Trier. Here's one of mine.
Thanks for the info. I have been wondering about the value and purchasing power of these coins for seemingly decades. Basically, it appears that bread was subsidized by the government. On my trip to Egypt a few years back I noticed something similar. One could buy 5 loaves of pita bread from the bakeries (not touristy joints) for 25 piastres or 1/4 Egyptian pound. The exchange rate at the time was 5.8 Egyptian pounds to the dollar, so the cost of five loaves was about 5 cents U.S. Obviously a good deal. And after four months of traveling around the country and avoiding the tourist trade - and visiting a great many seldom-visited locales, I ended up with more money in my pocket then when I left! It's almost a paradise to the archaeologically and numismatically inclined.