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Message:: [QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4349160, member: 99554"]The historyAutumn of 316 AD. We are right in the middle of a civil war in the Roman empire. After Verona, in September, Constantinus had just conquered Licinius' capital, Siscia. The battle of Cibalae took place in October, and the result was disastrous for Licinius and his troops. He had to run away quickly, and planned to continue the fight in the east. But he needed to win time to reorganize his army ; so his secret weapon was Valerius Valens, the Governor of Dacia Ripensis (northern Balkans). He used a diversion in naming him co-emperor ( Despite the fact that Zosimus mentioned Valens as a Caesar, the numismatic evidence indicates he had the rank of Augustus). It was almost certain that Valens will try to keep the power and so a struggle between him and Constantine will appear, helping Licinius. The war continued and after another terrible defeat, Licinius and Constantinus agreed to negotiate. With the help of Licinius' wife (and Constantinus sister), peace was finally made. But one condition before finalizing the treaty of March 317 AD was the execution of Valerius Valens. Licinius himself took care of that matter -  Zosimus gave the precision that Valens was in fact slain by fire- and it was the end of the short reign of an almost unknown emperor.The coinageThe first mention of a coin of Valerius Valens was by Hubert Goltz in 1551. But according to the drawing he made of this emperor, Goltz's attribution of this piece was probably an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Valerian I which had been altered. The legend of such a coin held in later numismatic work and it was mentioned  both by Francesco Mezzabarba in 1683 and by Anselmo Banduri in 1718. In spite of the fact that the 2 numismatist mixed up the co-emperor of Licinius with one or other of the two usurpers called Valens in the middle of the 3rd century, the supposed reading of the coin was perpetuated. Anyway the coin has vanished and we will never know if it existed or not. [ATTACH=full]1100931[/ATTACH]Banduri's misattribution in 1718 The next time a coin of Valens appeared was in 1789, in the catalogue of Michelet d'Ennery's sale in Paris, when he described a specimen from Alexandria and made this precision : "Valens coins are only known in Goltz, where we see that he bears the name of Augustus". But what happened with the little bronze after the sale remains a mystery. However, 80 years later, at the Laborde sale of 1869 in Paris, the d'Ennery  specimen is back and then acquired by the Cabinet des médailles de Paris. The second appearance of a coin of Valens in modern times is in Henry Cohen's second edition of 1888 ; a Cyzicus example with a provenance of Rollin's stock. One year later, the coin was acquired by the  Berlin museum. It had the same style, type and legend as comparable issues of the period. [ATTACH=full]1100933[/ATTACH]Catalogue of d'Ennery sale, 1789 [ATTACH=full]1100934[/ATTACH]Cohen's second edition, 1888 At the turn of the century, several new examples began to appear in Italy , but they all been regarded as forgeries . Not too long after the First World War, a series of very convincing fakes made their apparition under the name "The Geneva Forgeries ". When R.A.G. Carson analyzed these counterfeits in 1958, he came to the conclusion that the only authentic coins were those from Berlin and Paris. [ATTACH=full]1100935[/ATTACH]Carson's book, 1958 As stated before, during the short interlude which Valens was emperor, coinage was struck for him by the Licinius' controlled mints of Cyzicus (SKM) and Alexandria (ALE). It is very likely that both officinas at Alexandria and maybe all 8 at Cyzicus strucked issues for the usurper. We must also remember that after Valens was executed, his "not very abundant" coinage was recalled and melted down, thus explaining its great rarity today. So all the known examples bare  the same obverse legend :IMP C AVR VAL VALENS PF AVG. The reverse legend of both workshops are almost identical : IOVI CONSER-VATORI (on Alexandrias' specimen were added AVGG). About the type, it's the very popular one on Licinius' coinage : Jupiter holding Victory on globe with sceptre, eagle with wreath at left foot. In the past 30 years, only 12 coins of Valerius Valens have appeared on the auction market. Here is a brief overview: Alexandria mint:Officina I (A) : 2015 Nomos  2.85g   8,300 $                       2007 CNG  3.36g   22,000 $                       2012 Num. Ars Clas.  2.48g  12,5000 $ (ex NAC 2007) [ATTACH=full]1100944[/ATTACH]Nomos 2015 Officina 2 (B) : 2019 Roma  3.12g  16,000 $                        2019 CNG  3.49g  20,000 $                        2008 CNG  3.32g. 28,000 $                        2013 Goldberg  3.99g  37,000 $ (ex Num. Ars 2011, CNG 2007) <img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/roma/017/image00808.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />Roma Numismatic 2019 Cyzicus mint:Officina I      : 2010 Gorny & Mosch. 3.25g  12,000 $                      2007 Num.Ars Clas.  2.84g  30,000 $ (ex CNG 1999) Officina II.    : 2005 Num.Ars Clas.  3.36g  22,000 $ Officina III.   : 2000 Sternberg. 3.77g                Officina VI.   : 2013 CNG  4.14g  16,000 $ ( same reverse die as Berlin)  [ATTACH=full]1100945[/ATTACH]CNG 2013 And what about the counterfeit versions of Valens coinage ? Is there a way to distinguish the fake ones from the genuine ones ? Here are some points to check: Genuine: the wreath ties fall vertically.Fake: the wreath ties curl outwards. Genuine: The laurel leaves of the wreath are quite small.Fake: The laurel leaves of the wreath are quite large. Genuine: The eagle on the reverse is holding the wreath upwards above its head.Fake: The eagle looks like a swan with its head and neck left. I'll show now an example offered by a serious auction house a few years ago, but withdrawn later(you can easily notice the nice "swan"). [ATTACH=full]1100952[/ATTACH]Sadly I do not own a specimen of Valerius Valens in my collection. The closer I have is this old Licinius with an almost similar reverse. Please show us coins related in any way to this short- lived emperor ! [ATTACH=full]1100958[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

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