SA's favourites 2017: top 15 overall, 4 never posted

Haha.. yeah I noticed something that made me realize i was wrong... we get second guesses?

 

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Good question! Let's say... one guess per hour.

 

First person to get it right wins this Constantius II campgate from Trier:



Post your guesses here! (Or if you prefer, e.g. if you're an lrb expert, PM me your guess to give some of the less experienced a chance! )

 

Two correct guesses by PM so far, from @maridvnvm and @Curtisimo. But the Constantius II is still up for grabs!

 

A very generous and fun giveaway SA. I like trivia games

 

Man, that was a fun thread

 

Is it Constantine with a labarum and snake reverse

 

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!! Can you give me the RIC number?

 

192

 

Maybe the extra "2" is a typo? It's RIC VII Constantinople 19. PM me your address and I'll get that Constantius off to you! Congrats!!

OK, now I need to write something up about the coin and post it...

 

Woops. Yes. King of typos strikes again. 19. AWESOME!! thank you so much. I've always loved crispus! Will do!

 

(Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt there)

 

Oh wow, looking forward to seeing that #1 coin!

 

That's a tremendous set of eclectic coins, SA. Well-done!

 

Constantine I AE follis, Constantinople, issued 327. CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, laureate head right / SPES PVBLIC, chi-rho atop standard of 3 medallions impaling snake, A to left, CONS in ex. RIC VII Constantinople 19. 18mm, 2.96g.

IMPORTANT EDIT: THIS COIN HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE A FAKE! It was successfully returned to the seller and removed from the market. See: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/laziest-forgers-ever.319177/#post-3122374

I'm almost never prepared to pay 4 figures for a coin, but this type was a rare instance where I would have been. Even so, I doubted whether I'd ever get one with a decent reverse. I was thrilled when I managed to snag this one without adding that 4th figure! True, the obverse is a bit sketchy, but the reverse is where most of the action is. (With an obverse of the same quality, this coin would have cost me thousands. Even so, I think I got a great deal.)

This type was issued very briefly in 327 while Constantine was rebuilding Constantinople to take over the role as the empire's capital. It is one of the earliest issues of the new mint, and the first issue to pronounce Constantine as "the Great" (MAX AVG). But more importantly, it is the only explicitly Christian coin type that he ever issued! (Other Christian symbols on his coins appear only as control marks or flexible details, like on the shield of my #4. That Crispus is both earlier and rarer than this coin.) Apparently the type didn't go over too well, or was only planned as a limited release, because there are very few of them extant. This, the first issue, RIC lists as R4, while the second issue, with Constantine's bust looking skyward and wearing a diadem, is R5.

The interpretation of the type's symbolism is somewhat uncertain. Clearly the labarum is explicitly Christian, but is the dying snake? Does it represent evil, and/or the devil? Another possibility, which seems to be favoured by the experts, is that the snake represents Licinius, Constantine's principal earthbound enemy, who had been defeated and executed just a couple of years previously (ironically after having made his last stand in Byzantium, now Constantinople). In my view, the type is intentionally imbued with multiple layers of symbolism.

There's no question in my mind that this coin is my #1 from 2017! Thanks everyone for your comments, and your patience. And here's to a coinjoyful 2018!!

 

Well done sir!​

 

Well done on #1
Very generous gesture with that "blitz" game about guessing it


And I really laughed a lot at reading/looking at your comment about my comment about your coin year !!!

Q

 

Fantastic!!

 

Its a coin i don't have. And its old. Plus i guess its from around Europe

 

Ahhhhh was going to say that. But i work till 3:30. @×!#=%&/%=÷×!!!!!!