Dear Pekka,
Thank you for your opinion.
I think the coin is much more sophisticated.
I'm a collector for more than 25 years (I'm living in the former Noricum/Pannonia and I took into my
hands nearly 100,000
roman coins) and I know very well the books of
RIC,
Cohen, BMRC,
Sear, Fitz,
Vagi,
Van Meter (I've got all),
eRIC,
wildwinds, romancoinsinfo etc. etc. etc.
- this coin genuine
- many emperor use AVG in
obverse without laurel (by
Constantius II is unknown as
Augustus but I wrote C. Gallus)
Could give the historical context rise to the issue of this coin?"...Constantius was informed of the trials in
Antioch during a campaign against the
Alamanni. Having
signed a
peace with the Germanic tribe, Constantius decided to settle the matter with
his cousin. First he summoned Ursicinus to the
West, whom he suspected to have been inciting Gallus in order to create the occasion for a revolt and the usurpation of
his own son.
Next, Constantius summoned Gallus and
Constantina to
Milan.
Constantina left first, in order to gain some of her brother's trust, but died at Caeni Gallicani in
Bithynia. Gallus, whose bonds to Constantius
had been weakened, stayed in
Antioch. Constantius tried to lure Gallus, sending the tribunus scutariorum Scudilo to tell Gallus that Constantius wanted to raise him to
Augustus. Gallus desiring to finally obtain the rank of
Augustus, took Constantius's bait and left
Antioch to meet him. Gallus in an exhibition of
his presumed soon to be
Augustus powers, staged a
chariot race in Constantinople's Hippodrome and crowned the
victor, an
honor reserved only for those that are
Augustus. This insolence of Gallus enraged Constantius, further adding to
his dislike for the upstart
Caesar. In an attempt to further isolate Gallus from any form of
military protection, Constantius
had the garrisons removed from the towns in Gallus's path."