One area that I collect is unofficial Constantinian coinage with an emphasis on issues copying VLPP coinage from Siscia. Here is an official example of this type-- Constantine I A.D. 319 20mm 3.3gm IMP CONSTAN-TINVS AVG; high crested helmet, cuir., spear across r. shoulder, shield on left arm VICT• LAETAE PRINC PERP; two Victories stg., facing one another, together holding shield [wreath] inscribed VOT PR on altar inscribed with I. In ex. •BSIS• RIC VII Siscia 82 I recently got this issue copying the above type This coin is #160 that I will add to my page 17mm 2.2g I already had several of this type and most are obverse die matched while some are obverse and reverse matched. A few are merely close; but were obviously engraved by the same person. Here they are-- #3 18x17mm 2.5gm #4 16mm 2.3 gm #65 16x17mm 2.4gm #75 17mm 2.2gm #78 17x18mm 2.1gm #117 17mm 2.2gm #119 17mm 2.8gm #125 17mm 2.6gm #129 16x17mm 2.1g #136 18mm 2.4g
Do you have any idea about where this unofficial imitative mint was located? Any provenance? Do you know if any of these unofficial die-linked coins have been found in hoards or in archaeological context? That's interesting.
None of my coins came with any provenance. There is an interesting article that had some coins that looked like mine-- though it was hard to tell how similar from the small photographs. The article was about 52 imitations found near Carnuntum (a Roman legionary fort), which included 37 VLPP imitations. Matthias Pfisterer and Heinz Winter, “Eine Sammlung barbarisierter spätrömischer Münzen aus Carnuntum,” Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Numismatische Gesellschaft volume 41, no.2 (2001) :27-41 and volume 41, no. 3 (2001) : 47- 61. Carnuntum was right on the border. The map below shows its location and the proximity to the mint of Siscia.
All these obverses are very close to each other, but it's not a obverse die match for all these coins. For ex. #160 has the obv. legend CONSTИИT etc. while others have CONSTNNT ... . #160 is a cast coin, or minted with cast dies, which may not be the case for others. It seems to be a mass production. Casting bronze coins, or using cast dies, has been a technique used by official provincial mints in the 3rd c. to mint exceptionally large quantities of coins. I am sure it was done in Bostra, Arabia. Colonial coins of Bostra for Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea are extremely common, much more than any previous or later issue of Bostra, and flooded local markets in the 220s-230s. Many of them look like cast coins and most seem to be die matching.
