Late Roman Bronze Coins

Coin talk => Unlisted => Topic started by: Victor on October 04, 2012, 05:46:37 PM

Title: Constantine I SOLI INVICTO from Arles
Post by: Victor on October 04, 2012, 05:46:37 PM

This coin has a clear dot beside the T over star in the left field on the reverse, but there are no coins listed in RIC for this series with a dot. Possibly only an engravers error, but worth noting.

I also checked Ferrando's L’atelier monétaire d’Arles. De Constantin le Grand à Romulus Augustule, 313-476, but there was nothing like it listed.


Constantine I
A.D. 316
19mm   3.9gm
IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Sol standing holding globe.
In ex. PARL,  dot T/* left, F right
Cf. RIC VII Arles 84

Title: Re: Constantine I SOLI INVICTO from Arles
Post by: Genio popvli romani on October 05, 2012, 11:07:01 AM

Nice coin.
Couldn't it be a default coming from the die, the dot seems to have a "kind of tail" below?
I think the dot was not used in field marks at this time for these type of coins in Gaul, neither in mintmark except for Trier mint.

Title: Re: Constantine I SOLI INVICTO from Arles
Post by: Victor on October 05, 2012, 11:42:32 AM

The bit under the dot looks like an encrustation, but the dot itself is clear- the second pic shows the detail better (if you look closely you can see that the dot and bit under it are two distinct features). I know that there are not any marks like this for the series in RIC, that is why I said it is possibly just an engravers error or maybe some remnant of the manufacturing process.

I have had a few coins with curious and inexplicable marks and I believe it is always worth noting them, even though I believe that they are most likely engraving errors. Here is a topic of good example I recently posted - http://www.victorsimperialcoins.com/Forum/index.php?topic=73.0

The coin below has a very clear dot, but it shouldn't as none of this series in RIC has a similar mark-- but yet it exists. Once again probably an engravers error (maybe he didn't understand what he was doing), but I believe one should always note these things. When coins like these were noted by the author of RIC, they were given footnotes.

Title: Re: Constantine I SOLI INVICTO from Arles
Post by: Genio popvli romani on October 05, 2012, 11:53:44 AM

Quote from: Victor Clark on October 05, 2012, 11:42:32 AM

...I have had a few coins with curious and inexplicable marks and I believe it is always worth noting them,....

I believe it too. But I always have a couple of questions about why the coins are like they are. ::)