Help with a Constantine II coin

darkermobius

This is my second coin I have gotten, and with my limited referance material at the moment I am having trouble with a couple of things on the coin.

Constantine II. 316-340 AD. Æ follis (19 mm, 3.79 g). D N FL CL CONSTANTINVS NOB C - Laureate bust right, draped and cuirassed / IOVI CONSERVATORI CAESS - Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on a globe and scepter; captive and eagle at his feet. SMHA in exe., X over IIgamma in right field.. RIC 55 Heraclea .

I am having trouble finding referance to X over IIgamma in right field. What is its significance. And is there any special symbolism for the captive and the eagle, and victory on a globe? The books I have don't go into this, and haven't had any luck locating them online either

Thanks in advance

WillieBoyd2

The "SMH" is the mint mark Heraclea
The "A" after the "SMH" is the officina (office within the mint)

The captive means that Rome has conquered someone (again).
Lots of nations use the eagle as a symbol of military strength.

The meaning of "X" and "III" might not be known to modern times.
Possibly monetary value or ratio to another coin.

The coin is in the Wildwinds data base:

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine_II/t.html

The book "Roman Imperial Coinage" is the definitive catalog.
Written and edited by by Mattingly, Harold, Sydenham, et al.
Originally published in the 1920's in 10 volumes.
Some big university libraries have it.

Vol 1 Augustus to Vitellius
Vol 2 Vespasian to Hadrian
Vol 3 Antoninus Pius to Commodus
Vol 4 Pertinax to Uranius Antoninus (3 parts)
Vol 5 Valerian to Ammandus (2 parts)
Vol 6 Diocletian's Reform to Death of Maximinus
Vol 7 Constantine and Licinius
Vol 8 Family of Constantine
Vol 9 Valentinian to Theodosius I
Vol 10 Divided Empire and Fall of the Western Parts

Volume 8 would have this guy.

darkermobius

I was assmuing that might be what the captive meant, I just wasn't sure.

STLNATS

The victory crowning jupiter is a stock type and had been widely used for some time. Pretty much associates the emperor as being under the special protection of the god. The little eagle with wreath and the captive are also often used stock types, but might refer to something specific altho Licinius seemed to be preoccupied with not being overwhelmed by Constantine during this period so may just be pure propaganda.

My understanding of the XIIgamma is that it indicates 12 1/2, the denomination of this piece, and reflects the revaluation of the coinage from 25 nummi. There's a famous (well famousish) letter that is thought to be from the "3teens" that is part of the basis of this (I say thought because the dating is not certain). It tells a servant to the effect that the emperors have/will shortly cut the value of the money in half and that the servant is to go and buy whatever he can before the action becomes public knowledge. This coin is covered in RIC 7 which I thought described the marking in some detail.

STLNATS

There is indeed a discussion in the intro of RIC about the 12.5 denarii markings on eastern coins of this period (ca 321). They basically punt and, after noting that this is a common intrepretation, refer to other references (Bolin) that dealt with the issue more conclusively. RIC8 is 40 years old so I'm not sure what the current intrepretation of the coin is.

Also, for some reason I thought that the original coin was of Lic II, not Ce II and immediately thought of the radiated pieces of the same reverse type. Here's the WW image of that:



Interestingly, the Augsti were generally given radiated obverses - which would have been appropriate for the half denomination - while the Jrs (who were quite young) were given consular busts. This type was used at the other eastern mints including Antioch (above), Nicomedia and Alexandria.

This is a very interesting series and usually nice pieces are easily obtained for modest amounts. Another nice example where the value of the piece is > its commercial value alone.