Late Roman Bronze Coins

I just bought a group of 20 Constantinian London coins from the latest CNG auction. here is the description--

ROMAN. Imperial. Lot of twenty (20) London mint Æ Folles. Includes: various Constantinian rulers and types of mid-late reductions. Average VF - Near EF. LOT SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS. Twenty (20) coins in lot.

From the Dr. Malcolm Lyne Collection.

The strange thing, is that if you look closely at the tags, you can see that most of these coins are from the Appleford Hoard. CNG seems to have forgotten to include what, at least to me, seems to be an important detail. They also sold some single coins from the hoard; which they described as such.




The Appleford Hoard was discovered in 1954 and contained 5,752 coins, most from the Constantinian period.

Here is a link to the article by C. King, "The Appleford Hoard"  Revue belge de numismatique

http://www.numisbel.be/inhoudstafel.htm#vol123

If the link doesn't land in the right section, scroll up or down to find it--- it is the 1977 volume

I have these two coins with the same RIC number that essentially have different bust types. Of course, different engravers are trying to accomodate the lengthy legend.

the first is the more usual bust type



Maximianus
A.D. 285- 295
Æ Antoninianus 22x23mm 3.4g
IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; radiate and cuirassed bust right.
IOV ET HERCV CONSER AVGG•; Jupiter standing right, holding globe and sceptre, facing Hercules standing left, holding victory, club and lion's skin; between them Z.
In ex. XXI
RIC Vii Antioch 622


and this one, with no shoulders



Maximianus
A.D. 285- 295
Æ Antoninianus 22x23mm 3.3g
IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; radiate and cuirassed bust right.
IOV ET HERCV CONSER AVGG•; Jupiter standing right, holding globe and sceptre, facing Hercules standing left, holding victory, club and lion's skin; between them Γ
In ex. XXI
RIC Vii Antioch 622

Thanks Ben! You definitely solve the mistery.

It looks an obverse and reverse die match.

...and congratulations for the coin above.

It seems he belatedly realized he'd messed up with the legend spacing, so threw a gap in there to "make it better".

Judging by how "handsome" the figure on the reverse is, I assume it's meant to be Galeria herself, not Venus! 

Nice specimen of the type!

This coin has a neat legend break on the obverse. There is a gap between V and G of AVG. It seems the engraver messed up a little.



Galeria Valeria
A.D. 308-310
Ӕ follis   25mm    5.4g
GAL VALERIA AV-G; Diademed and mantled bust right on crescent.
VENERI VICTRICI; Venus holding up apple and raising drapery over left shoulder, crescent in left field, Γ in right.
In ex. SIS
RIC VI Siscia 211

Nikko, your coin seems to be an obv die match to this one from Warren Esty (on his website).

btw, the one above with the archaic (pseudo-Corinthian) helmet is mine.

Thanks guys.
I'm incline to id this coin as RIC 214, officina Q. I agree with all your precise notes.

Lech listed several of this type with the D2 bust, but the "archaic" version with protruding visor.

It can be hard to differentiate a D2 "visor" (fixed browband) from the riveted edge of a D6/D7 ridge helmet on a worn coin like this, but ignoring that there are three things pointing to D7 rather than the Attic/Praetorian D2 helmet.

1) It seems to have the star decoration(s) characteristic to the ridge helmets.

2) It has the tall feather crest vs the normal horsehair crest of the D2 helmet, although at the beginning of this Rome P-R/vota series there are rare D2 helmets for Licinius with a feather crest.

3) In terms of type/helmet sequencing in this series, this 5-line vota type is early, but the D2 - for Constantine - is late. Early D2 is basically for Licinius, although there's an exceptional Pax Perpetva for Constantine with D2 helmet that could be interpreted multiple ways.

Quote from: Nikko on March 02, 2025, 08:51:34 AM
About the coin in the middle, officina letter is Q

Well, still quite rare and interesting. I agree with Ben that D2 is much less probable. However, there is no absolutely clear difference between D2 and D7 and we have to analyze such details as the visor or the helmet decoration, often also ambiguous.

Quote from: Nikko on March 02, 2025, 08:51:34 AM
About the coin in the middle, officina letter is Q, but according to Lars Ramskold (who saw the coin yesterday evening) it may also be a D2 bust (helmet with visor). He will looking for an obverse die match in his database. I will keep you updated.

Hi Nikko,

I'm pretty sure that's a D7 bust (RIC 214). There seems to be a star decoration on it, characteristic of D6 & D7 busts, and it has the tall feather crest. D2 helmets have a swirly design on them.