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Message:: [QUOTE="Gao, post: 679265, member: 19409"]The two men are soldiers, and the thing between them is a decorative pole called a standard. It was basically the rough ancient equivalent of a flag. Surrounding them is the legend "GLORIA EXERCITVS," which means something like "the glory of the army." If you can read the letters in the exergue below the soldiers, let us know, as that would be the mintmark. I can't quite read it from this picture. On the obverse of the coin is a portrait of the emperor. It's hard to read the surrounding legend in your scan, but it looks like it's either "CONSTANTIVS" or "CONSTANTINVS", meaning it depicts Constantine I, Constantine II, or Constantius II. The last is probably the most likely, as his coins are far more common, and the switch from two standards between the soldiers to one happened just before Constantine died. If you can read it better in person, let us know. As for the date, I believe that the one standard version of these coins started in about 336 AD, and they continued for several years afterwards, with 248 being the last year for them that I found on a quick check on Wildwinds.[/QUOTE]