Help Identifying Ancient Copper Dime sized Coin - Answered
Intueor
Posts: 310 ✭✭✭✭
Hi,
I am usually over in the US Coin Forum. I am embarrassed to admit I know nothing of Ancient Coins. My Italian Grandmother passed away in her sleep after 105 good years. She left me some coins in a black felt bag. Nothing special in value but priceless to me because she thought they were valuable. Cleaning out closets on a rainy afternoon and came across the bag. I had originally thought this was just a corroded dateless dime. When I took a second look, I see it looks like an Ancient Roman (?) coin. Thought it might be a Widow's Mite but after looking them up, I could not even find a close match. The piece is seriously corroded in spots of copper sulfate. I know it does not have any numismatic value but just curious if it is identifiable. Just hoping someone will recognize it.
Thanks for your time.
PS. If you ever have a question about Franklin Halves do not hesitate…..
Comments
My condolences for the loss of your grandmother, but glad your family had so many years with her. The coin is identifiable as a small Roman bronze coin, minted during the reign of Emperor Valens (r. in the eastern half of the Empire 364 - 378 AD). His uncharacteristically short name forced the imperial mints to use larger letter punches to make his obverse inscriptions fit properly. This helps to distinguish his coins from those of his older brother Valentinian I (ruled in the West 364 - 375 AD).
The reverse depicts the winged goddess of Victory, striding left, and holding a wreath and palm branch. The mintmark in the exergue appears to be SIS for Siscia, a Balkan mint located in what today is Croatia. The control letters around Victory are just one of a bewildering number of varieties issued from Siscia, during the reigns of Valentian I, and Valens.
Valens is generally regarded as a lesser emperor than his elder brother, though he did outlive Valentinian I. His reign came to a disastrous end when a planned settlement of a friendly Gothic tribe ballooned into an uncontrolled emigration of Germanic peoples fleeing the Huns. The Roman forces in the area were overwhelmed, and had angered the Goths by overcharging them for food supplies. The enraged invaders laid waste to the Roman countryside, before Valens could arrive with reinforcements from Antioch. When Valens and his forces did finally arrive, he set out at once to face the Germanic army, ignoring advice to wait for additional troops from his nephew, Emperor Gratian, in the West. The battle, fought near Adrianople, was a complete disaster that saw the majority of the Roman forces in the East wiped out; Emperor Valens perishing with them. The East remained at the mercy of the barbarians, until Gratian convinced the former governor and general, Theodosius, to come out of retirement, and restore order as Emperor of the Empire's eastern provinces.
Nice write-up.
I got the Mint city correct, but was thinking that the coin (and Emperor) was closer to 350 AD.
@TitusFlavius
@BillDugan1959
Thank you for the detail identification and obviously your time and effort. It is apparent you know your “stuff”. As I said, if I can ever return the favor, do not hesitate to ask.
Thanks again.
@Intueor Thank you, but I am a piker compared to Titus Flavius.
I can often decipher an inscription and then I go to books by David R. Sear. For earlier emperors, sometimes the portrait tells you who it is too.