pauldean89445 Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Found this years ago on a trip to Europe, when i visited a friends' dig on Crete. He had found a half dozen of these at a ruins site they were working, and graciously gave me one. Put it away and totally forgot about it, till i was going through a box of stuff. I'm sure he said it was a Constantine, and depicts his likeness on the obverse. It even appears to have a Date on the reverse? Can make out "S M ", but not the next two letters (or numbers?). The reverse depicts s slaying or killing of some sort. ANY information or light you can shed on this would be Greatly appreciated. Do you think it has any significant value? THANKS ALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syzygy Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Found this years ago on a trip to Europe, when i visited a friends' dig on Crete. He had found a half dozen of these at a ruins site they were working, and graciously gave me one. Put it away and totally forgot about it, till i was going through a box of stuff. I'm sure he said it was a Constantine, and depicts his likeness on the obverse. It even appears to have a Date on the reverse? Can make out "S M ", but not the next two letters (or numbers?). The reverse depicts s slaying or killing of some sort. ANY information or light you can shed on this would be Greatly appreciated. Do you think it has any significant value? THANKS ALL! There is not enough detail in the pics for me to feel confident on which of the Constantine family this piece depicts. My guess is either Constantine I or Constantius II. The reverse is well know and has appeared on many varieties of the era. It is called a FEL TEMP REPARATIO. The 'SM??" that you refer to in the exergue (that area at the bottom of the reverse) is a mint mark rather than a date. Check out The Roman Coin Attribution Toolkit linked here. You may not be able to make an absolutely definitive attribution, but you should be able to come pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie582 Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Legend states DNCONSTANTIUSPFAVG. I'd say Constantius II as Augustus, period 2, Obverse D, (Roman Base Metal Coins by Richard Plant, CRB532) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauldean89445 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Great information . How are these valued? Is there a valuation book or chart for them? What is the rarity, and can you get close to guessing the year? Thanks for all the great info and help so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Great information . How are these valued? Is there a valuation book or chart for them? What is the rarity, and can you get close to guessing the year? Thanks for all the great info and help so far! This is one of the most common ancient coin types, it's one you'll often find in uncleaned lots. Value depends on condition, for these maybe $5-$10 retail right now. The date is around 350AD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie582 Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 This is one of the most common ancient coin types, it's one you'll often find in uncleaned lots. Value depends on condition, for these maybe $5-$10 retail right now. The date is around 350AD. Agreed! Very common, Even I've got one! Mostly in fair to fine condition. It seems they were well used, probably long after he'd gne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Agreed! Very common, Even I've got one! Mostly in fair to fine condition. It seems they were well used, probably long after he'd gne. It is amazing how long some coins circulated. In the 5th century the Goths countermarked old 1st century Sestertii for use as change. While well worn a 400 year lifespan is quite impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yafet_rasnal Posted June 28, 2006 Report Share Posted June 28, 2006 Jorg, those sestertii, dupondii and asses were not in circulation from the time of struck up to the time when they were countermarked but they were occasional findings of V century. Most of them by the way are from flavian period Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Jorg, those sestertii, dupondii and asses were not in circulation from the time of struck up to the time when they were countermarked but they were occasional findings of V century. Most of them by the way are from flavian period Hey, who let you in? Is there an article on how long the pieces did circulate and how they Goths came to reuse them? I just read something recently (Grierson I think) but it didn't go into details on the coins' history. They do look pretty well worn though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yafet_rasnal Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 The best reference is still Grierson's MEC These coins don't look worn but corroded. This is because they stand in the humus ground layer before being found (without a metal detector...lol) by people of those times. If you want to make a try, put yr XF coin with excellent patina 10 cm in the soil and keep it there for 1-2 months, using the soil like you were cultivating it ...mixing and water on it. After that time your coin will be corroded too because it lose the patina. The countermarked used are 42 and 83 nummi, considered as 1/6 and 1/3 of the siliqua. Something similar is found in vandalic coinage with the civic issues of Carthago of 42, 21, 12 and 4 nummi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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