a quite nice late roman bronze

[Andrew McCabe]

I don't collect late Roman bronzes, partly due to generally believing them to be rather scrappy, unartistic and repetitive (I acknowledge as a collector of Republican bronzes this is rather like the pot calling the kettle black but never mind). But I wonder have I been following the wrong path all these decades. The coin below caught my eye because of its galley so I had a close look as a comparison point with Republican bronzes, many having a galley. I thought it pretty nice. Is this a typical LRB? If so perhaps I need to reconsider them as an area of interest.

[siscia_avg]

This is typical beautiful high grade LRB coin Love the strike and patina.

Although at first look style is really nice, I noticed two things that are far from perfect.

Standard should have Chi-Rho inscribed and hand is supposed to hold it under the banner and phoenix in front looks like celator forgot he needs to put it in so its crammed and not well defined.

And this is coming from LRBC addict.

[quadrans]

Hi Andrew,

I absolutely agree with siscia_avg, it is a very nice coin..

The LRBC-s are sometimes have realy nice variation ..
your example are interesting..

 If you interest, you can find some variation in my Galley Gallery:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5359

 Best regards
 Q.

[manpace]

That one looks out of the ordinary to me, but I've seen one or two out there to match it.

[curtislclay]

I've noticed too that early FEL TEMP REPARATIO's are among the most elegant and attractive late Roman bronzes!

According to Bruck, the emperor's hand overlapping with the banner, causing Chi-Rho to be omitted, is typical for this type at Antioch. Similarly another unusual feature of Andrew's coin: Victory's far wing being raised and visible above her head.

[siscia_avg]

I also noticed the wing, but decided to let it go.

Coin in really beautiful, it felt so wrong to write anything about style.

I am relieved that was my mistake, I am exclusively collector of Siscia issues.
So Antioch style is not really familiar to me.

[Lone Wolf]

Antiochene style tends to be neater and more detailed, especially in reverses. Traces of this neater approach can be seen up until the closure of the mint in early 7th century.

[orfew]

Andrew, that is a truly lovely coin. I do not collect LRBs, but that one is superb.

[Andrew McCabe]

Andrew, that is a truly lovely coin. I do not collect LRBs, but that one is superb.

I don't collect LRBs either nor am I thinking of starting, and this is certainly not my coin, but I did notice the especially pretty galley as a comparison with RRBs, which I do collect. I just saw the picture somewhere, and the pic has since been deleted from where I saw it.

Shouldn't it be silver coated?

[Jschulze]

For sure a beautiful coin! Many get accustomed to seeing them in much poorer condition and style because... well LRBs are where many of us start. (Me included!)

LBRs sometimes don't get the love that they deserve. There are many that are very beautiful coins, especially for those willing to pay a bit extra to get quality.

Josh

[SC]

Beautiful coin.  Yes, such beauty is rarer among LRBCs - both in their original state and they way they often exist today - but it is not unheard of.  There are many interesting designs and lovely examples.

The one in your image appears to be silvered.  Could just be a trick of the camera but it does appear to have the remains of silvering in many places.  The silvering was quite thin by this time - I suspect they used a very different silvering process from what was being used in, say 318 - 324.

As for the banner the Emperor is clearly holding it with the front facing away from us.  I say that tongue in cheek as it makes no sense to engrave it like that but that is clearly what it looks like with the hand visible on the pole in front of the banner and no design visible on the banner.  Maybe passive resistance of a die-hard Pagan engraver....

Shawn