I'm new at this. But I don't think I'm going to accomplish much more with these. The before pictures may be better than the after.
I also
had the middle coin backwards (
reverse with the
obverse; and
obverse with the
reverse; I kept that in the after photos.) I've indicated the inscriptions I can read in
bold;
italic is supplied from other descriptions of similar coins. I've added spaces; hyphen indicates a split in the
inscription.
A.
Martinian (July-September 324)
AE 21,
weight 2.3 g.,
die axis 180°,
obverse D N MARTIANVS-
P F AVG,
radiate bust right,
reverse GLORIA-EXERCITVS two soldiers standing, extending arms holding
standard, one on left holds spear in left hand.
Identification based largely on
portrait and ANVS?AV? on the
obverse and ???ORI??? on the
reverse. The rest is illegible. If this
attribution is correct, this should be an unusual coin, as
Martinian, a pretender at the time of
Constantine I, lasted only a couple of months.
B.
Constantius II (337-363)
AE 17,
Weight 1.8 g., maximum
diameter 17 mm.,
die axis 180°,
obverse DN CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped and
cuirassed bust left;
reverse,
FEL TEMP REPARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman,
mint in ex is illegible.
Similar to
RIC VIII 110, but not as heavy. This coin
had some sort of very hard, black substance on it. There is
still a
bit on the
obverse and more on the
reverse. I hesitated to do more because I was down to bare metal in places. The
portrait looks to me like
Constantius II. The inscriptions on both sides are illegible,
as is the
mint mark. The
reverse could be as described; it is hard to for me to be sure because of the black stuff.
C.
Constantius II (337-363)
AE 17,
weight 1.7 g., 17 mm.
die alignment 45°,
obverse D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped,
cuirassed bust right,
reverse FELTEMPRE PARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman who is clutching
horse’s neck,
CONSB* in ex.
This coin appears to be a smaller version of
RIC VIII 81,B or
RIC VIII 82.B. There may be a Γ in the
reverse left
field as in the
RIC examples of the larger coin, but this
area of the coin is damaged.
When I posted the before pictures, I was asked what the black stuff was. At first I thought it was just dirt, but actually it is a shadow
cast as a result of a depressed fracture that runs on the
obverse from the
bust’s ear hook-like from the left shoulder to the upper lip. On the
reverse it is raised and runs from slightly left of the lower center to above the center and turns 90° to the right. I think it was fairly recent as the exposed metal appears to be bright. Sort of a pity, as I think this one cleaned up the best of the lot, with much of the
inscription legible.
D.
Constantius II (337-361)
AE 17,
weight 1.6 g.,
diameter 17 mm.,
die axis 180°,
obverse DNCONSTAN TIVS laureate
bust right,
reverse SPESREI PVBLICE; ex: ?
SIS (Siscia-Sisak, Croatio)
All but the ‘D’ on the
obverse are legible; only SRE and LICE are legible on the revere.
E.
Valentinian II (375-392)
AE 15,
weight 1.6 g.,
diameter 15 mm.,
die axis AE 15,
weight 1.6 g.,
diameter 15 mm.,
die axis 350°.
Obverse D N VALENTINIANVS
P F AVG (?), pearl laureate
bust right,
reverse SALVS REIPVBLICAE (?), maybe
victory advancing left holding
trophy in right & dragging captive with left,
cross right.
There is quite a
bit of corrosion on this coin. This is very much a wild guess based on
portrait and possible match of the
reverse design, especially the ΧΡ. It is like
RIC IX 86a and much of the description
comes from that source.
Valentinian II was four years old when
his father’s generals declared him “
Augustus”. The
portrait is obviously that of an adult.
F.
Constantius Gallus (351-354)
AE 13,
weight 0.8 g.,
diameter 13 mm.,
die axis 10°,
obverse CONTI?? ???ITAO?, diademed, robed
bust right,
reverse VOT X MULT XX or perhaps
VOT V MULT X.
This guy seems to have a big nose like
Constantius Gallus, but I’ve not found the
reverse type for him. If the
reverse is
VOT V MULT X, then the X is really badly placed—under the M. The “MULT” is skewed downward with respect to the
VOT. The die doesn’t look to have been well executed. The coin was struck off center so that any exerge would never have been on this coin.
Green
patina is broken off revealing corroded bronze in many places on both sides.
