Constantine I, CLARITAS from Trier

[Nikko]

RIC lists this rev. type only for Caesars: Crispus and Constantine II. Therefore, this coin could be regarded as a hybrid.
By the way, Lech reports more specimens from different issues, so I started to think they could not be “accidental strikes”, but rather regular issues for Constantine I like the ones from London mint.
I just got the coin attached.

[Victor]

Nice, I agree that it seems like a regular issue, not accidental.

I had an example from London that I sold a few years ago.

[Lech Stępniewski]

By the way, Lech reports more specimens from different issues, so I started to think they could not be “accidental strikes”, but rather regular issues for Constantine I like the ones from London mint.

Yes, there are more such specimens but they are still a very rare minority. Consider how many types (combinations of busts and obv. legends) they have minted in Trier with SOLI legend for Constantine I. And some are very very common. I bet we could find right now few examples on eBay or VCoins. Consider also that the die with Sol and SOLI could be easily confused with die with Sol and CLARITAS. The same as with PROVIDENTIAE series: AVGG legend for Caesars etc. I believe that all these coins are hybrids, mint errors impossible to identify during standard mint control. Even now numismatic dealers sometimes miss this difference although they have no more than dozens of similar coins, not thousands of thousands.

BTW, what is the weight and the diameter of your nice coin, Nikko?

[Heliodromus]

Lech, are you just talking about Trier, or all Constantine I Claritas types ?

It's hard to know how many we need to see to believe it was deliberate rather than mules, but it seems to me Claritas bronzes for Constantine I are deliberate. There's also a Constantine I Claritas solidus from Thessalonica that at least shows he didn't condsider it a type just for the caesars.

There are interesting patterns if you look at the Claritas issues:

London: 4 Claritas issues (S-P, S/*-P, u-, u-*) , all including C1. 2/4 issues (S/*-P, u-*) only have Claritas for C1, not for the caesars!

Trier: 3 Claritas issues (ATR T-F, .ATR T-F, .ATR F-T). C1 only in 2nd issue.

Arles: 5 Claritas issues (R-S, C-S, (*, (* P, captive). C1 only in 2nd C-S issue, except R5 R-S in Vienna. No Claritas for Crispus (no mules seen either).

Rome: 4 Claritas issues (*, A, wreath, T-in-wreath). C1 only in 2nd A issue, except R5 * in Vienna. */RP issue only has Claritas for C1, not for the caesars!

Siscia: 1 Claritas issue (ASIS for caesars, */ASIS for C1). */ASIS Claritas only used for C1, not for the caesars!  (RIC 35 R5 as per usual only in Vienna!)

No C1 Claritas at Aquileia, Ticinum or Thessalonica (apart from solidus).

These don't really look like patterns of random mistakes, and apart from London's all issues for C1, general pattern is C1 only for early issues, not later ones. From the pattern we might also guess C1 exists for 1st Trier issue (ATR, Sol adv left with whip).

[Lech Stępniewski]

Lech, are you just talking about Trier, or all Constantine I Claritas types ?

Thanks for this question, drukkar. I should be more precise.

I was talking about Trier in context of the Nikko's coin. I don't think that CLARITAS rev. legend was considered unacceptable for Constantine I. However, London is probably an exception (and maybe ROME 80-84) but in other issues I see a rather clear division: SOLI INVICTO COMITI for Constantine I (because Sol was his comes) and CLARITAS REIPVBLICAE for Caesars.