Additional types

 

Illustrated below are a couple of irregular issues that couldn’t be placed in any of the other categories. Most of these are imitations that were produced incidentally and on a rather small scale. Some of these coins, like for example the siliqua, might be ancient forgeries, rather than imitations. The photo’s indicate relative size of the coins.

 

2.79g/18.5mm

 

This coin poses a number of problems. First of all: what was the prototype. The legend is totally garbled, so conclusions can only be taken from the portrait and the figure. The portrait seems to show a laureate and bearded emperor, which leaves only Licinius I – but on the other hand, the beard is not textured like the hair, and it could just be a badly engraved jaw line. The figure on the reverse resembles Sol, which would indicate a prototype of Constantine’s prolific Sol Invicto coinage, produced in the western mints. The style and lettering point to an irregular mint somewhere in the Danubian provinces. In any case, the coin is interesting and rare because it is rather early in the 4th century, before the great waves of production that begin to form a few years later.

 

 

1.18g/12.7mm

 

Although the portrait of this coin suggests a Constantinian ruler, the reverse type of Victoria advancing left points to a prototype of the Valentinian period. The coin has a nice desert patina and was found in Israel.

 

1.00g/13.7mm

 

Barbarous imitations of eastern mints are much rarer than imitations of western prototypes. The main reason for producing these coins, as shown by Bastien referenced in the introduction, was to make up for a shortage of small change. Such shortages seem to have occured more often in the western parts of the empire than in the eastern parts. The coin above is nice example of an imitation of an eastern mint. The reverse type VOT/XV/MVLT/XX was only minted at Antioch AD 347-48 (RIC 112-120). This coin has a Constantius II legend and the mintmark SMANI (RIC 113).

 

 

1.70g/16.8mm

 

Fel Temp Reparatio coinage was imitated ‘epidemically’ in the west, especially the ‘Fallen Horseman’ reverse types. Prototypes of Constantius, Constans and Constantius Gallus were used in all of the western provinces and typically Britain.

 

1.25g/14.4mm

 

This tiny and interesting coin clearly imitates a campgate prototype. However, its module and weight indicate a later date than the 320’s. The mintmark is unclear, but probably a Rome mint (RT) prototype was used.

 

2.68g/18.7mm

 

This coin is another one of those enigma’s. Often, it is quite easy to pin point the prototype that was used, however crude the style of the imitation. Even though this coin seems to show a laureate Constantinian bust, the reverse’s best match as a prototype is a tetrarchic post-reform radiate fraction. To be more precise: the CONCORDIA MILITVM type with a depiction of the emperor stg.r., receiving Victory from Jupiter stg.l., holding sceptre. This type was struck in the eastern mints, and the officina mark was typically placed in the centre field (cf. RIC 59, 60 of Alexandria). This coin seems to have a delta in that spot. The coin is from a old collection and it came with a note that it was found in Egypt, which coincides nicely with this prototype.

 

1.72g/18.6mm

 

This siliqua of Valens is probably better identified as an ancient counterfeit rather than an imitation. With its weight of 1.72g, well under the weight to be expected from siliquae of this time period, it seems that it was made to deceive. However, when examining the coin more closely, the dies do not copy the official issue very well. The lettering is off significantly, and so is the placing of the Vota formula within the wreath on the reverse. Moreover, the N’s are engraved retrograde, and the initial D of the obverse legend lacks the vertical bar.