Constantine I Vota Ticinum

[rjw1252]

I would like to find out what this coin is and what value it has. The lettering on the obverse seems to be: CONSTEN-INIISNVC  reverse:  HCONSTHN.INIMIIXHIIC

Thanks!

[THCoins]

Hi RJW, and welcome to WoC !
Not much response to your question yet. Apart from that this looks Roman, this is outside my area of expertise. Can not even say whether this is genuine or not.
Moved this to the Roman section where this may get some more attention.

[Figleaf]

A follis of Constantine I. There are many varieties of this coin, mostly depending on the lettering in the wreath on the reverse and the mintmark below. Unfortunately, I can't read the mintmark (6 o'clock on reverse) This is a close, but incomplete id:

Constantine, Heraclea, RIC VII 90, follis 326-327 AD
obverse: CONSTANTINVS AVG, diademed head right
reverse: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG around VOT XXX in wreath.

Peter

[rjw1252]

Thanks Peter!

That's very helpful. Do you the approximate value of this coin?

[Figleaf]

A very common coin, but quite popular. You should be able to find price info googling around, but keep in mind that an unreadable mint doesn't help.

Peter

[SC]

I think that the mint mark is TT - Ticinum (modern Pavia), third officina.

SC

[Figleaf]

Why not? Your guess is better than mine.

Peter

[SC]

Not a guess at all.  Experience and research.

I will go through the process as it may help others identifying late Roman bronzes.

First, the reverse type D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG around wreathed VOT / XXX was only struck at four mints: Ticinum, Roma, Heraclea and Constantinopolis. 

Unfortunately, this takes a little research.  The two main late Roman coin references - RIC (The Roman Imperial Coinage) and LRBC (Late Roman Bronze Coins) - are both organized by mint, not reverse type, so it takes a bit of work to narrow down the mints that struck a given reverse type.  The only book currently out there covering reverse types of this period is the much harder to find and out of print "Die spätrömische Kupferprägung" by Guido Brook, although you can find an English translation "Late Roman Bronze Coinage : An attribution guide for poorly preserved coins", translated by my friend Alisdair Menzies, for sale online.  This book is also not a complete list - it listed the coins in the important Vienna State collection in the 1960s but not every coins struck.  My forthcoming (Spink Books, summer 2021) "A Handbook of Late Roman Coin Types 324-395 AD" will cover reverse types from 324 to 395.

Anyway, once the four mints have been identified the mint marks options can be determined: at Ticinum u / PT (or ST or TT) [the u being a small crescent in the wreathed part]; at Rome RFP (or RFS or RFT); at Heraclea SMHA (or SMHB etc); and at Constantinople CONS.

This provides three key clues.  Only coins struck at Ticinum had the crescent in the wreathed part, only coins struck at Ticinum had a two letter mint mark, and only they ended in T.

Now, take a look at the coin.  To me the mint is clearly visible but that is due to experience.  I am not being flippant.  I have been collecting late Roman coins for about 19 years now, have over 2,000 and have handled literally many, many tens of thousands (I was able to build much of my collection by sorting through large lots from some dealer friends when I lived in Europe).  When i started at this hobby I would have been totally stumped at things that seem obvious now.  There is no substitute for looking at, and especially handling, a great number of coins.

But even with less experience it should be clear that there are likely two letters, certainly not four and that at least the second is a T.  looking at the mint options there is therefore only one option.

SC

[Figleaf]

Whereas I am a coin omnivore who never possesed more than 4 Roman coins.

As you can see I didn't overpromise when I said we need a Roman coin expert. I can and will pretend, while just using Wildwinds, but then, there are other puzzles waiting

Thank you for the walk-through. I am sure this will be handy for present and future members of this site.

Peter

[Guillaume Hermann]

For identification of late Roman bronze coins, tesorillo.com is a very useful website and easier to use than Wildwinds.