| Image search results - "John" |
didrachm, 330/290 BC
7.82 g
obv: head of Demeter left
rev: ear of grain, tongs to left, META to right
(Johnston C 4.20 (this coin); Rutter, Historia Numorum 1583)
from Ars Classica 15, Luzern 1930, No. 167, ex Künker e-Auction 17, No. 7areich
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1891 Promissory Note - John Deckman
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Payable for $100.00 one year after date of issueQuant.Geek
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1891 Promissory Note - John Deckman
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Payable for $100.00 one year after date of issueQuant.Geek
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John Comnenus-Ducas. As emperor of Thessalonica, 1237-1242. BI Trachy (20mm, 1.67 g, 6h). Type R, Variety A. Thessalonica mint. Outstretched wing to left / Facing half-length bust John, holding banner decorated with two cross-in-rings. DOC 31; SB 2217. VF, dark green and brown patina, hint of roughness, small flan split.
From the Iconodule Collection.Quant.Geek
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John Comnenus-Ducas. As emperor of Thessalonica, 1237-1242. BI Trachy (14mm, 0.38 g, 6h). Thessalonica mint. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator / Facing busts John and St. Demetrius, holding patriarchal cross between them. DOC –; SB –; NAC 56, lot 830 (hammer 800 CHF). VF, dark green patina, obverse struck with worn die, ragged flan. Extremely rare.
From the Iconodule Collection.Quant.Geek
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JAMES III
James III was crowned at Kelso Abbey in 1460 at the age of nine, he was the son of James II and Mary of Guelders. During his childhood, the government was led by successive factions until 1469 when he began to rule for himself. That same year he married Princess Margaret of Denmark. Margaret's father, King Christian I of Denmark and Norway was unable to raise the full amount of her dowry so pledged his lands and rights in Orkney and Shetland as security for the remainder. But Christian I was never able to redeem his pledge, and Orkney and Shetland have remained Scottish possessions ever since.
Soon after his marriage, James faced great difficulties in restoring a strong central government. His preference for the company of scholars, architects and artists coupled with his extravagance and partiality to favourites alienated him from the loyalty of his nobles. Even his own brothers, Alexander, Duke of Albany and John, Earl of Mar regarded him with jealousy verging on hatred. In 1479, James' brothers were arrested on suspicion of conspiring against the Crown. John Stewart, the Earl of Mar, died in suspicious circumstances, whilst Alexander Stewart, the Duke of Albany, escaped and fled to England.
The ever-present English threat had been temporarily solved by a truce with Edward IV in 1463 but James' estrangement from his brothers and a strong faction within the Scottish nobility led to the final loss of Berwick.
Although James had tried to settle his differences with Alexander, Duke of Albany, his brother again tried to take his throne in a coup after Edward IV recognised him as Alexander IV of Scotland in 1482. Some minor members of James III's household were hanged, including Robert Cochrane, the king's favourite. But James was removed to Edinburgh Castle where he survived and Alexander was exiled to France.
After his queen's death in 1486, James lived in increasing isolation amidst the growing resentment of the nobility. Finally, in 1488, the Scottish nobles seized James' eldest son, also called James, placed him at their head, and rose against the king. At the Battle of Sauchieburn, three miles from Stirling, James III, defeated, was thrown from his horse as he fled from the field. He was carried into a nearby cottage where he was set upon and stabbed to death.
James III was buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey near Stirling and his son, the figurehead of the revolt against him, was hailed as James IV.
*Alex
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THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK
Thomas Rotherham, also known as Thomas (Scot) de Rotherham, was an English cleric and statesman. He served as bishop of several dioceses, most notably as Archbishop of York and, on two occasions as Lord Chancellor. Rotherham was educated at King's College, Cambridge, he graduated as a Bachelor of Divinity and became a Fellow of his college where he lectured on Grammar, Theology, and Philosophy. After his ordination as a priest, he became a prebendary of Lincoln in 1462 and then of Salisbury in 1465. He moved on to powerful positions in the Church, being appointed as Bishop of Rochester in 1468, Bishop of Lincoln in 1472, and then Archbishop of York in 1480, a position he held until his death in 1500.
In 1467, King Edward IV appointed Rotherham as Keeper of the Privy Seal. He was sent as ambassador to France in 1468 and as joint ambassador to Burgundy in 1471, and in 1475 was entrusted with the office of Lord Chancellor. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Rotherham was one of the celebrants of the funeral mass on 20th April 1483 and immediately after Edward's death he sided with the dowager queen, Elizabeth Woodville, in her attempt to deprive Richard, Duke of Gloucester of his role as Lord Protector of her son, the new King Edward V. When Elizabeth sought sanctuary after Richard had taken charge of the king, Rotherham released the Great Seal to her (though he later recovered it and handed it over to Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury).
Rotherham's mishandling of the seal was perceived as indicative of questionable loyalty and led to his dismissal as Lord Chancellor. He was replaced by John Russell, who earlier had also been his successor as Bishop of Lincoln. On 13th June 1483, Rotherham was charged with being involved in a conspiracy between Lord Hastings and the Woodvilles against Richard and imprisoned in the Tower of London, but he was released a few weeks later, around the middle of July, after Richard's coronation as King Richard III. Rotherham was re-instated as Chancellor in 1485, however he was dismissed shortly afterwards by Henry VII and retired from public work.
Rotherham died of the plague in Cawood near York on 29th May 1500. His remains were transferred to a magnificent marble tomb in York Minster in 1506.*Alex
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Metapontum, Lucania, c. 340 - 330 B.C.
|Italy|, |Metapontum,| |Lucania,| |c.| |340| |-| |330| |B.C.|, NEWLeukippos (or Leucippus) was a son of king Oinomaos of Pisa. He fell in love with the nymph Daphne and disguised himself as a girl to join her company. When she discovered his true identity in the bath, he was slain by the nymphs. Based on this portrait, his plan was doomed from the start.
Another Leukippos, unrelated to the coin, was a philosopher in the first half of 5th century B.C. This Leukippos was the first Greek to develop the theory of atomism; the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. His theory was elaborated in far greater detail by his pupil and successor, Democritus. Leukippos was born in Miletus or Abdera.
GS110591. Silver nomos, Johnson-Noe B3.15 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 497 (same); Historia Numorum Italy 1576; SNG ANS 443, VF, fine style, toned, areas weakly struck, irregularly shaped flan, Metapontion (Metaponto, Italy) mint, weight 7.812g, maximum diameter 22.5mm, die axis 315o, c. 340 - 330 B.C.; obverse ΛEYKIΠΠOΣ (clockwise from above), head of Leucippus right, bearded, wearing Corinthian helmet with a plain bowl, dog (control symbol) seated left behind; reverse barley ear, stalk and leaf on right, bird with open wings on leaf, META upward on left, AMI below leaf; from the CEB Collection, Ex: Numismatic Fine Arts, Inc, Summer Bid Sale, June 27, 1986, lot 45.paul1888
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Lucania, Metapontum: AR didrachm, 330-290 BC, 7.79gm, 20.4mm. Obv: Head of Demeter right with corn leaves in hair, (celator's signature?) DA[I] under chin. Rev: META; ear of barley with leaf to right, above which plow, below which MA[X]. Johnston C 1.38; HN Italy 1581.paul1888
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1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Iceni, AR Unit, Struck c.60 - 61 under Boudica (Boadicea)Obverse: No legend. Abstract Celtic style head with slit for eye and no ear facing right. Three pellets below head, branch emblem behind neck.
Reverse: No legend. Celtic style horse facing right, lozenge-shaped box with pellets on outer corners below horse. Section of large elaborate wheel-like object above horse, pellet below horse's tail.
Class: Icenian O
Diameter: 14mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Axis: 10
Spink: 434
The first known recorded example of this coin was made by William Stukely, an English antiquarian whose ideas influenced various antiquaries throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Stukeley published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime and he is regarded as an important forerunner of archaeology for his emphasis on methodically measuring and documenting ancient sites. He died of a stroke in early 1765.
The theory that this coinage was connected with Boudica was originally reported in 1987 and this was endorsed by R D Van Arsdell, an authority on the Celtic coinage of Britain, as Boudican in the 1990's. At the time though this was disputed by many in the numismatic community, some of whom continued to rely on older studies that lumped all "Face-Horse" coins together in a group dating before 20 CE.
However, John Talbot of the University of Oxford carried out research on these issues and, as his die-link and hoard work gradually progressed through the 1990's into the early twenty-first century, these coins were confirmed to be the final coinage of the Iceni. As Talbot's findings were only gradually revealed over a period of time, the accepted dating used in some dealer catalogues did not always keep up with the latest information. During his studies, Talbot discovered that coins from several die sets are only found in the Boudican Rebellion hoards. He also confirmed that these coins were struck in abnormally great numbers for any Icenian issue. But, because he was not certain that this was enough evidence to date the coins to 61 CE. he suggested only that they could have been struck any time after the Claudian Invasion of 43 CE.
Considering though that some die sets are known only from the Boudican Rebellion hoards, that it is still the case that these coins appear in uncirculated condition in the hoards, and that to date none of these coins have been found from secure contexts earlier than the time of the Boudican rebellion, it would appear that the 1987 report was essentially correct and these coins must have been struck nearer to the date of the Boudican Rebellion than earlier, possibly in connection with the financing of that rebellion. The conclusion now is that these coins can, with some confidence, be attributed to Boudica.
THE ICENI
The Iceni were a tribe located in eastern Britain during the Iron Age and the early Roman era. Their territory was bordered by the Corieltauvi to the west, and the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the south. In the Roman period, their capital was Venta Icenorum at modern-day Caistor St Edmund.
Julius Caesar did not mention the Iceni in his account of his invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC, though they may have been related to the Cenimagni, whom Caesar notes as living north of the River Thames at that time. The Iceni were a significant power in eastern Britain during Claudius I's conquest of Britain in AD 43, in which they allied with Rome. Increasing Roman influence on their affairs led to a revolt in AD 47, though they remained nominally independent under king Prasutagus up until his death around AD 60. Roman encroachment after Prasutagus' death led his wife Boudica to launch a major revolt from 60–61. Boudica's uprising seriously endangered Roman rule in Britain and resulted in the burning of Londinium and other cities. The Romans finally crushed the rebellion, and the Iceni were eventually incorporated into the Roman province.
Archaeological evidence of the Iceni includes torcs, which are heavy rings of gold, silver or electrum worn around the neck and shoulders. The Iceni began producing coins around 10 BC. Their coins were a distinctive adaptation of the Gallo-Belgic "face/horse" design, and in some early issues, most numerous near Norwich, the horse was replaced with a boar. Some coins are inscribed ECENI, making them the only coin-producing group to use their tribal name on coins. The earliest personal name to appear on coins is Antedios (about 10 BC), and other abbreviated names like AESU and SAEMU followed. The name of Prasutagus also appears on some coins as PRASTO.
QUEEN BOUDICA
Queen Boudica was married to Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni people of East Anglia. When the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. However, when Prasutagus died he left a will dividing his lands between the Roman emperor and his family. The Romans decided to rule the Iceni directly and confiscated all the king's property. When this was contested they are said to have stripped and flogged Boudica and raped her daughters. These actions exacerbated the widespread resentment at Roman rule.
In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled, other tribes joined them, and Boudica led a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces.
Boudica's warriors defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed the then capital of Roman Britain, Camulodunum (Colchester). They then went on to destroy Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) killing thousands in the process. Finally, Boudica was defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus. A great number of her army were killed and, though Boudica's fate is unknown, she is alleged to have either died in battle or poisoned herself to avoid capture. The site of the battle which brought an end to her uprising is also unknown.
The photograph below is of the Victorian statue of Boudica (Boadicea) situated on the Thames embankment in London.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE THEM
  *Alex
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3 Tiberius, Utica, Zeugitana, Ex John Quincy Adams CollectionBronze dupondius, RPC I 739, F, holed, 13.158g, 29.8mm, 90o, Zeugitana, Utica mint, 298 - 30 A.D.; obverse TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVG IMP VIII, bare head left; reverse C VIBIO MARSO PRCOS III C SALLVSTIVS IVSTVS II, Livia seated right, scepter in left, patera in extended right, M - M / I - V across fields; with John Quincy Adams Collection tag from the Stack's Sale; scarce
RI0001
Ex John Quincy Adams Collection, 6th President of the United States, and His Descendants, ex Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, ex Stack’s Sale , 5-6 March 1971, lot 763.
Purchased from FORVMSosius
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Hendin-451Minted under the joint authority of Antiochos VII and John Hyrcanus I
130/131 BCE
Struck as a transitional issue at the mint of Jerusalem
Called the earliest "Jewish" coin.
Obv- ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ
Seleucid anchor, upside down, date below
Rev- Lily,Symbol of Jerusalem and the Temple
Mint: Jerusalem
Meshorer: AJC 1,Supplement II,A2
Brian L
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Louis XIV (1643 - 1715), AE (Brass) Jeton struck c.1644 – 1645Obverse: LVD•XIIII•D:G•FR•ET•NA•REX. Laureate and cuirassed youthful bust of Louis XIV facing right; • B • (for Briot) below.
Reverse: CONSILIO•NIL•NISI•. The escutcheon of France, surrounded by the chain of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit (Order of the Holy Spirit): Necklace and Cross. The legend translates as “He undertakes nothing without Council”, a reference to the administrative council of the king.
Dimensions: 25.65mm | Weight: 5.4gms | Die Axis: 12
Ref. Feuardent: 239 var.
Struck at the Monnaie de Louvre mint, Paris, France
Die engraver: Nicholas Briot
Nicholas Briot (c.1579–1646) was an innovative French coin engraver, medallist and mechanical engineer, who is credited with the invention of the coining-press. He emigrated to England in 1625 and in 1626 he was commissioned to make 'puncheons and dies' for the Coronation of Charles I. His Coronation Medal established his reputation and he went on to produce a considerable number of dies for medals and coins in the following years. In 1633, he was appointed chief engraver to the Royal Mint and went to Scotland to prepare and coin the coronation pieces of Charles I. These demonstrated both his artistic skill and the technical superiority of his new coining machinery and in 1635, on the death of Sir John Foulis, Briot was appointed Master of the Mint in Scotland and superintended the Scottish coinage for several years. Briot was then recalled to England by the King, and on the outbreak of the English Civil War he took possession of the coining apparatus at the Tower and had it removed 'for the purpose of continuing the coining operations in the cause of the King'. Briot travelled to France in the early 1640's and sent coining presses to his brother Isaac, now in a senior position at the Paris Mint, he died on Christmas Eve 1646.*Alex
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71 Constantine II Ex John Quincy Adams CollectionAE Follis, Trier Mint
RIC VII Trier 539, Sear (2014) 17314
Ex John Quincy Adams Collection, 6th President of the United States, and His Descendants, ex Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, ex Stack’s Sale, 5-6 March 1971, Lot # 948
Bought by Christian Blom, then sold to Smithsonian Institution underwater archaeologist Mendel Peterson, then to D.C. coin dealer Gene Brandenburg, then to me.Sosius
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8 LiciniusAE Follis, Thessalonica Mint, 312-313 AD
RIC VI Thessalonica 59
Ex John Quincy Adams Collection, 6th President of the United States, and His Descendants, ex Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, ex Stack’s Sale, 5-6 March 1971, Lot # 944
Bought by Christian Blom, then sold to Smithsonian Institution underwater archaeologist Mendel Peterson, then to D.C. coin dealer Gene Brandenburg, then to me.Sosius
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England: silver Short Cross penny of King John (1199-1216), struck in the name of Henry II, ca. 1205-1207lordmarcovan
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Enniscorthy (Wexford) copper halfpenny token dated 1800.Woodcock's Bank Enniscorthy (Wexford) copper halfpenny token dated 1800. Obverse: View of a castle by the sea with a portcullis formed by six vertical and one horizontal bar in the gateway and legend: "PAYABLE AT THE BANK OF R. W. ENNISCORTHY". Reverse: Shield with monogram "RW" hanging from the bough of a tree with hills and a castle in the background: "A. D. 1800". Plain edge. The issuer, R. Woodcock was a banker at Enniscorthy. The reverse design depicting "Vinegar Hill" refers to a tragedy there two years before the issue of the coin when there was an uprising of the United Irishmen in Dublin. This was soon suppressed, however, the peasants in the south followed suite and also revolted. Armed with fowling pieces, French muskets and long pikes, they captured several towns including Enniscorthy and Wexford. The rebels then organised a training camp for their 6,000 strong force on Vinegar Hill. In June, General Lake attacked the Vinegar Hill camp and routed the half-trained force and, with Major-General John Moore’s recapture of Wexford, the rebellion disintegrated. The bodies of around 500 men who were killed in the battle lie buried in a mass grave at the foot of the hill. D&H Wexford No: 4. Diameter 28.8mm.Ancient Aussie
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John I of Brabant, Brussels or Louvain mint, Mayhew 43mauseus
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John of Avesnes, Maubeuge mint, Mayhew 39mauseus
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John of Avesnes, Viennes mint, Mayhew 32mauseus
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John the Blind, Luxembourg mint, Mayhew 265mauseus
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Manuel I Komnenus clipped billion aspron trachy SB1966Obverse: IC-XC (bar above) in field, Christ bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and colobion, seated upon throne without back; holds gospels in left hand.
Reverse: MAN(monogram)HA AECIIOT or var, MP OV bar above in upper right field, Full-length figure of emperor, bearded on left, crowned by Virgin nimbate. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-peice, and jewelled loros of simplified type; holds in right hand labarum-headed scepter, and in left globus cruciger. Virgin wears tunic and maphorion.
four main varieties:
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 1167-1183?
Sear 1966 Var d, Fourth coinage; H 16.14,15; 17.1-4
rev: Jewel within circle on loros waist
16mm .89gm
As discussed in the Byzantine forumThese are the "neatly clipped" trachies.
During the reign of Manuel I the silver content of the trachy was dropped from c.6% to c.3%, but later types were sometimes issued with the higher silver content.
In Alexius III's time these high silver types were clipped down to half size, probably officially, presumably so as to match the lower silver content of the later issues.
Of course this would only have worked as long as the populace accepted the idea that the clipped coins were all high silver versions to start with. Once smarties started clipping ordinary coins these types would soon have have fallen out of favour and been withdrawn.
Ross G.
During the reign of Alexius III were reused coins of previous releases, clipping its border in a very regular mode and thus reducing to half their weight. Regularity of shearing and the fact that they were found to stock uniforms, suggesting that this clipping is a formal issuance of mint. Based on the stocks found in Constantinople , some of which consist only of clipped coins, it may safely be dated between 1195 and 1203.
Hendy and Grierson believe that this shearing was a consequence of the devaluation of trachy mixture during the reign of Isaac II and Alexius III. They reduced by half the already low silver content of this coin: shearing coins of previous emperors, still widely in circulation, made their trachy consistent with the intrinsic value of current emissions. Of course, this does not justify the clipping of coins already degraded of Isaac II and Alexius III. Therefore, reason for their declassification is not understood. I think that reason of Ross is right!
The structure of their dispersion in hoards indicates that, however, were made after the other emissions. Clipped trachys appear in small amounts along with regular trachy in hoards, represents a rarity. Were clipped trachys of Manuel I, Andronicus I, Isaac II and Alexius III, and perhaps of John II; those of Manuel are less scarce. In principle, we must believe that all trachys after Manuel I have been clipped, although many have not yet appeared.
Antvwala
wileyc
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UNITED STATES TOKENS, Hard Times. Political issues
CU Token (28mm, 8.74 g, 1h)
Dies by John Gibbs. Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Struck 1838.
* AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE
Ship under sail right
A FRIEND */ TO THE CONSTITUTION
Bull standing right
Rulau HT 24; Low 66 Ardatirion
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UNITED STATES, Hard Times. Belleville, New Jersey. John Gibbs, manufacturer
CU Token. Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Struck circa 1838.
* AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE, ship under sail right
J GIBBS MANUFACTURER/ [OF]/ MEDALS/ AND/ TOKENS/ &C/ NJ/ * BELLEVILLE
Rulau HT 202; Low 150
Ex Robert Williams Collection (Steve Hayden, 11 December 2016), lot 363; Steve Hayden (2 December 2012), lot 585Ardatirion
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UNITED STATES, Trade Tokens. New York, New York. John H. Dayton, Union Steam Washing.
CU Token (28.5mm, 9.85 g, 12 h) Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Dated 1837
Laureate head of Liberty right; above, E. PLURIBUS UNUM on ribbon; thirteen stars around; 1837; c/m: small D above, '61' in white ink to left
* JAY. H. DAYTONS. UNION STEAM WASHING EST./ * 17th St. NEAR 5th AVENUE * NY/, WASHING/ DONE FOR/ SHIPS. ST BOATS/ HOTELS &/ PRIVATE FAMILIES
Rulau HT 249, Low 114
Ex Don Miller Collection; William Dunham Collection (B. Max Mehl, 3 August 1941), lot 2680Ardatirion
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CANADA, Tokens. Bas (Lower) Canada. Banque du Peuple du Montreal.
CU Sou Token (28mm, 8.73 g, 11h)
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Struck 1838.
AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE/ * BAS CANADA *
Bouquet BANQUE DU PEUPLE./ MONTREAL.
UN SOU within wreath of oak leaves
Charlton LC-5A3; Corteau 17; Breton 715Ardatirion
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CANADA, Tokens. Bas (Lower) Canada. Montreal.
CU Sou Token (27mm, 6.59 g, 12h)
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Struck 1838/9 or later.
AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE/ * BAS CANADA *, bouquet
UN/ SOU within wreath; TOKEN above, MONTREAL below
Charlton LC-27A1; Breton 710; Corteau 43BArdatirion
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CANADA, Tokens. Bas (Lower) Canada. Montreal.
CU Sou Token (27mm, 6.79 g, 12h)
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Struck 1838/9 or later.
AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE/ * BAS CANADA *, bouquet
UN/ SOU within wreath; TOKEN above, MONTREAL below
Charlton LC-28; Breton 702; Corteau 29BArdatirion
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CANADA, Tokens. Bas (Lower) Canada. Montreal.
CU Sou Token (28mm, 8.73 g, 11h)
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dies by John Gibbs. Struck 1838/9 or later.
AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE/ * BAS CANADA *, bouquet
UN/ SOU within wreath; TOKEN above, MONTREAL below
Charlton LC-32B; Breton 692; Corteau 32B
Ex G.F. Landon Collection (Moore Numismatic Auctions, 10 February 2015), lot 60 (part of)Ardatirion
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CANADA, Nova Scotia. William IV King of Great Britain, 1830-1837
CU Halfpenny Token
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dated 1832, but struck circa 1835
PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
HALFPENNY TOKEN, thistle with two leaves; 1832 below
Charlton NS-3A2; Corteau 278, tentative die state 6; Breton 871
“Old residents state that these counterfeits were brought, in large quantities to St. John, N.B., and from thence distributed through fishing vessels to Nova Scotian out ports. And informant tells of having seen a fisherman from Yarmouth paid for his catch in this coin.” R.W. McLachlan (Annals of the Nova Scotian Coinage, p. 37)Ardatirion
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CANADA, Tokens. Nova Scotia. William IV. King of Great Britain, 1830-1837
CU Halfpenny Token (28mm, 8.47 g, 6 h)
John Walker & Company's mint. Dated 1832
PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA
Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of George IV right
ONE PENNY TOKEN, thistle with two leaves; 1832 below
Charlton NS-1D1; Breton 871Ardatirion
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Dy.176 Philip II (Augustus): denier tournois (Saint Martin de Tours)Philip II, king of France (1180-1223)
Denier tournois (Saint Martin de Tours)
Billon, 0.96 g, diameter 18.5 mm, die axis 7h
O: PHILIPVS REX; croix pattée
R: +SCS MARTINVS; châtel tournois
The livre parisis was a standard for minting coins (and for unit of accounts) inherited from the Carolingians.
In 1203, John (Lackland) lost Anjou to Philip II. The deniers minted at the Saint Martin abbey in Touraine were considered as very stable. So Philip II decided to adopt the livre tournois (tournois means "of Tours", Tours is a French city in Anjou close to Saint Martin abbey) as a new standard denier and unit of account. Livre parisis and livre tournois coexisted for some time but the livre tournois quickly outstripped the livre parisis as a unit of account. Deniers parisis ceased to be struck a little more than a century later, but livre parisis existed till 17th century.
SCS MARTINVS means Sanctus Martinus (Saint Martin). The name of the abbey was temporarily kept on the deniers tournois, but was soon replaced by the name of the city of Tours.
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(0098) TRAJAN--WOLF #198 - 117 AD
AE QUADRANS 16 mm 3.54 g
O: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG
LAUR BUST R, FOLDS OF CLOAK ON SHOULDERS
R: S C
SHE-WOLF STANDING R
BM-1060 ROME RIC 692
scarce and unexplained reverse type
(Ex HJBerk from John Twente Animal Collection)laney
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(1118) JOHN II COMNENUS1118-1143 AD
Billon Aspron Trachy. 27 mm 4.97 g
Constantinople Mint
O: Bust of Christ
R: Bust of John II facing, wearing loros and crown with pendilia, holding sceptre and globus cruciger
Sear 1944laney
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(1118) JOHN II COMNENUS1118-1143 AD
Billon Aspron Trachy. 30.5 mm max. 2.78 g
Constantinople Mint
O: Bust of Christ
R: Bust of John II facing, wearing loros and crown with pendilia, holding sceptre and globus cruciger
Sear 1944 laney
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(504c) Roman Republic, L. Cassius Longinus, 63 B.C.Silver denarius, Crawford 413/1, RSC I Cassia 10, SRCV I 364, aVF, struck with worn dies, Rome mint, weight 3.867g, maximum diameter 20.3mm, die axis 0o, c. 63 B.C. Obverse: veiled bust of Vesta left, kylix behind, L before; Reverse: LONGIN III V, voter standing left, dropping tablet inscribed V into a cista.
The reverse of this Longinus denarius captures a fascinating moment when a Roman citizen casts his ballot. "The abbreviation III V [ir] indentifies Longinus as one of the three annually appointed mintmasters (officially called tres viri aere argento auro flando feriundo). A citizen is seen casting his vote into the urn. On the ballot is the letter 'U', short for uti rogas, a conventional formula indicating assent to a motion. The picture alludes to the law, requested by an ancestor of the mintmaster, which introduced the secret ballot in most proceedings of the popular court" (Meier, Christian. Caesar, a Biography. Berlin: Severin and Siedler, 1982. Plate 6).
The date that this denarius was struck possesses unique significance for another reason. Marcus Tullius Cicero (politician, philosopher, orator, humanist) was elected consul for the year 63 BC -- the first man elected consul who had no consular ancestors in more than 30 years. A "new man," Cicero was not the descendant of a "patrician" family, nor was his family wealthy (although Cicero married "well"). Cicero literally made himself the man he was by the power of the words he spoke and the way in which he spoke them. A witness to and major player during the decline of the Roman Republic, Cicero was murdered in 43 BC by thugs working for Marc Antony. But Cicero proved impossible to efface.
Cicero's words became part of the bed rock of later Roman education. As Peter Heather notes, every educated young man in the late Roman Empire studied "a small number of literary texts under the guidance of an expert in language and literary interpretation, the grammarian. This occupied the individual for seven or more years from about the age of eight, and concentrated on just four authors: Vergil, Cicero, Sallust and Terence" (Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 17).
Plutarch: Cicero's Death
But in the meantime the assassins were come with a band of soldiers, Herennius, a centurion, and Popillius, a tribune, whom Cicero had formerly defended when prosecuted for the murder of his father. Finding the doors shut, they broke them open, and Cicero not appearing, and those within saying they knew not where he was, it is stated that a youth, who had been educated by Cicero in the liberal arts and sciences, an emancipated slave of his brother Quintus, Philologus by name, informed the tribune that the litter was on its way to the sea through the close and shady walks. The tribune, taking a few with him, ran to the place where he was to come out. And Cicero, perceiving Herennius running in the walks, commanded his servants to set down the litter; and stroking his chin, as he used to do, with his left hand, he looked steadfastly upon his murderers, his person covered with dust, his beard and hair untrimmed, and his face worn with his troubles. So that the greatest part of those that stood by covered their faces whilst Herennius slew him. And thus was he murdered, stretching forth his neck out of the litter, being now in his sixty-fourth year. Herennius cut off his head, and, by Antony's command, his hands also, by which his Philippics were written; for so Cicero styled those orations he wrote against Antony, and so they are called to this day.
When these members of Cicero were brought to Rome, Antony was holding an assembly for the choice of public officers; and when he heard it, and saw them, he cried out, "Now let there be an end of our proscriptions." He commanded his head and hands to be fastened up over the rostra, where the orators spoke; a sight which the Roman people shuddered to behold, and they believed they saw there, not the face of Cicero, but the image of Antony's own soul. And yet amidst these actions he did justice in one thing, by delivering up Philologus to Pomponia, the wife of Quintus; who, having got his body into her power, besides other grievous punishments, made him cut off his own flesh by pieces, and roast and eat it; for so some writers have related. But Tiro, Cicero's emancipated slave, has not so much as mentioned the treachery of Philologus.
Translation by John Dryden: http://intranet.grundel.nl/thinkquest/moord_cicero_plu.html
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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003 - John I Tzimisces (969-976 AD), Millaresion - Sear 1792Obv: +IhSyS XRISTyS NICA*, Cross crosslet on globus above two steps. at centre, circular medallion containing facing bust of John with short beard, wearing crown and loros and dividing the inscription I/W - A/N. Triple border ornamented with eight equally spaced glbules.
Rev: IWANN / EN XW AVTO / CRAT´EVESb´/ bASILEVS / RWMAIW´in five lines, -:- above and beneath, triple bordet as on obv. pierre_p77
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011 HarthacnutPenny of Harthacnut, king of Denmark 1035-1042 and England 1040-1042
English issue in the name of Cnut
Moneyer: Leofwine
Mint: Thetford
Arm-and-scepter type
S. 1169
O: +CNVT RECX A
R: +LEFPINE ON ÐEOTVO
The arm-and-scepter type in the name of "Cnut" was produced during the reign of Harthacnut
Ex- Mark Rasmussen, Morton & Eden Auction 91 (lot 43), Archbishop John SharpSt. George's Collection
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0247 - Litra Timoleon 344-336 BCObv/ Head of Cora l., around (ΣIPAKOΣION).
Rev/ Pegasus l., Σ below.
AE, 21.0 mm, 9.69 g
Mint: Siracuse.
CNS II/78
ex-CNG Coins, auction e455, lot 26 (ex-Jack A Frazer colln.; ex-John Bergman colln., CNG Coins 57, lot 115).dafnis
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030f02. Annia FaustinaAE 23mm, 7.08 g. Hierapolis, Phrygia. (near Pamukkale, Turkey). Obv: IEPA•CY-NKLHTO-C, draped bust right. Rev: IEPAPOLEITWN NEWKOPWN, A/KTI/A in three lines within a demos crown (laurel wreath). Johnston Hierapolis 74; BMC Phrygia p. 242, 89; SNG Cop 444; Waddington 6128. RPC 5459 (temporary)
NOTE: Great-granddaughter of Marcus Aurelius and third wife of Elagabalus who had executed her first husband in order to marry her in July 221. He divorced her at the end of that year and returned to Aquilia Severa.
A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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036 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, U-486.g, avers, please click on the picture,036 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, U-486.g, avers, please click on the picture,
avers: ✠TEMPORE IO GVBERnATOR, Crowned Bohemian Lion advancing left in circle; border of dots.
reverse:-
diameter: mm, weight: 0,00g,
mint: Hungary, Buda, mint mark: h-S, by (Pohl).
date: 1447-1450 A.D. (Pohl), ref: Unger-486.g, CNH-2-157A, Huszár-620,
Q-001quadrans
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036 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, U-486.g, reverse, please click on the picture,036 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, U-486.g, reverse, please click on the picture,
avers:
reverse: ✠ MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross in circle, mint-mark on each side (•/h-S); border of dots.
diameter: mm, weight: 0,00g,
mint: Hungary, Buda, mint mark: •/h-S, by (Pohl).
date: 1447-1450 A.D. (Pohl), ref: Unger-486.g, CNH-2-157A, Huszár-620,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.d., P-175-04, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.d., P-175-04, #01
avers: TEMPORE IOhAnIS (legend variation), Patriarchal cross in a circle, mint-mark on each side (h-P); border of dots.
reverse: ✠m•REGnI•VnGARIE, Hungarian shield with Árpadian stripes in a circle; border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: h/P//--, diameter: 12-13mm, weight: 0,56g, axis: 6h,
mint: Hungary, Nagyszegben (Hermanstadt, today Romania: Sibiu, by Pohl), date: 1446 A.D.(by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-618, CNH-2-156, Unger-485.d., Pohl-175-04,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.dvar., P-175-04, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.dvar., P-175-04, #01
avers: TEMPO•IOhAnIS (legend variation), Patriarchal cross in a circle, mint-mark on each side (h-P or n-P); border of dots.
reverse: ✠ m•REGIS•VGRE (legend variation), Hungarian shield with Árpadian stripes in a circle; border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: h/P//--, diameter: 13mm, weight: 0,40g, axis: 11h,
mint: Hungary, Nagyszegben (Hermanstadt, today Romania: Sibiu, by Pohl), date: 1446 A.D.(by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-618, CNH-2-156, Unger-485.dvar., Pohl-175-04,
Q-001
quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.e., P-175-05, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-618, C2-156, U-485.e., P-175-05, #01
avers: TEMPORE•IOhAnIS (legend variation), Patriarchal cross in a circle, mint-mark on each side (h-c˟), border of dots.
reverse: ✠m•REGnI•VnGARIE, Hungarian shield with Árpadian stripes in a circle; border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: h/c˟//--, were struck by Christophorus de Florentia, (by Pohl). diameter: 13-13,5mm, weight: 0,59g, axis: 7h,
mint: Hungary, Nagyszegben (Hermanstadt, today Romania: Sibiu, by Pohl), date: 1446 A.D.(by Pohl),
ref: Huszar-618, CNH-2-156, Unger-485.e., Pohl-175-05,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-620, C2-157A, U-486.d., P-177-04, Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross, B-S, #01 037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-620, C2-157A, U-486.d., P-177-04, Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross, B-S, #01
avers: ✠TEMPORE•IO•GVBERnATOR, Crowned Bohemian Lion advancing left in a circle; border of dots.
reverse: Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross in a circle, mint-mark on each side (B-S); border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/S//-- were struck by Stephanus Mikola, diameter: mm, weight: 0,00g,
mint: Hungary, Buda, date: 1447-1451 A.D. (by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-620, CNH-2-157A, Unger-486.d., Pohl-177-04,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-623, C2-157C, U-487, P-179, Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-623, C2-157C, U-487, P-179, Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #01
avers: •TEMPORE IO•GVBERnATOR, Bohemian Lion advancing left in a circle, without crown, border of dots.
reverse: Rozette MOnETA•REGnI•VnGARIE, Patriarchal cross, in a circle, mint-mark on each side (B-I); border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/I//-- were struck by Iohannes Münczer (by Pohl), diameter: 19mm, weight: 0,72g,
mint: Hungary, Buda, date: 1451-1452 A.D. (by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-623, CNH-2-157C, Unger-487, Pohl-179,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-631, C2-166, U-488, P-185, Raven standing left, Rare!, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-billon Denarius, H-631, C2-166, U-488, P-185, Raven standing left, Rare!, #01
avers: ✠m•LADISLAI•R•VnGARIE•E•, Two-part Hungarian shield (stripes, patriarchal cross) in a circle, mint-mark on each side, border of dots.
reverse: ✠IOhAnI•GVBERnATORIS•, Raven standing left, in a circle, ring in beak, over the crescent, border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/I//-- were struck by Iohannes Münczer (by Pohl), diameter: 13-13,5mm, weight: 0,59g, axis: 7h,
mint: Hungary, Buda, date: 1452 A.D. (by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-631, CNH-2-166, Unger-488, Pohl-185, Rare!
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-Obulus, H-622, C2-158A, U-490.b., P-178-01, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #01037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-Obulus, H-622, C2-158A, U-490.b., P-178-01, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #01
avers: Bohemian Lion with a crown advancing left in the circle, line border.
reverse: Patriarchal cross, in a circle, mint-mark on each side (B-I), border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/I//-- were strucked by Iohannes Münczer (by Pohl), diameter: 12,0mm, weight: 0,27g, axis: 0h,
mint: Hungary, Buda, date: 1447-1450 A.D. (by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-622, CNH-2-158A, Unger-490.b., Pohl-178-1,
Q-001quadrans
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037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-Obulus, H-622, C2-158A, U-490.b., P-178-01, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #02037 János (Johannes or John) Hunyadi., Gubernator of Hungary, (1446-1453 A.D.) AR-Obulus, H-622, C2-158A, U-490.b., P-178-01, Patriarchal cross, B-I, #02
avers: Bohemian Lion with a crown advancing left in the circle, line border.
reverse: Patriarchal cross, in a circle, mint-mark on each side (B-I), border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/I//-- were strucked by Iohannes Münczer (by Pohl), diameter: 13,5mm, weight: g, axis: h,
mint: Hungary, Buda, date: 1447-1450 A.D. (by Pohl),
ref: Huszár-622, CNH-2-158A, Unger-490.b., Pohl-178-1,
Q-002quadrans
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052. John II, 1118-1143. BI Trachy.Obv. John facing
Rev. Christ
S1944LordBest
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0680 Hadrian Sestertius Roma 119-23 AD Spes Reference.
Strack 576; RIC II, 612b; Banti 595; RIC 680
Bust B1 crop
Obv. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG
Laureate, cuirassed bust cropped of its pteryges (thunderbolt on leather strap)
Rev. P M TR P COS III S C
Spes advancing left, holding flower and hitching robe
28.15 gr
33 mm
6h
From the J. Eric Engstrom Collection. Ex Lepczyk 61 (13 March 1985), lot 365; Vatican Museum duplicate from St. John’s College Collection, no. 429.okidoki
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077 HansBlaffert of Hans, king of Denmark (1481-1513), Norway (1483-1513), and Sweden (1497-1501)
Mint: Oldenburg
With a value of 2 pennies, the blaffert was mostly produced in Germany. This coin was made around 1500 in Oldenburg, king Hans' homeland, and was either produced for Hans, or for his count, also named John.
Ex- Oslo Myntgalleri auction 36 (lot 636), CJ SimensenSt. George's Collection
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088 John III1 Öre of John III, king of Sweden 1569-1592
1576
Mint: Stockholm
O: IOHANNES·3·D G·SVECIE·REX 7 6
R: MON NOVA STOK HOL I OR
Ex- eBaySt. George's Collection
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1.2 John Hyrcanus II (Yonatan) Prutah67, 63 - 40 BCE
AE Prutah
Hendin 478
overstruck on Hendin 467Ecgþeow
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1.3 John Hyrcanus II (Yonatan) Prutah67 and 63-40 BCE
"Yonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews"
either a coin of Hyrcanus II, or a coin of Alexander Jannaeus in his later years. He may have changed his name to the deminunitive form in order to break up the YEHO- which is also God's name as a concession to the Pharisees.
Hendin 478Ecgþeow
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1/12 Shekel, Hippocamp/ OwlPhoenicia, Tyre, c. 332-275 BC, 1/12 Shekel, 0.66g. SG-5916, BM-43. Obv: Hippocamp l. Rx: Owl stg. l., crook and flail under wing. Ex John Twente Animal Collection, purchased from Amphora, 1/26/79. VF; area of weak strike. Ex Twente & H.J.BerkPodiceps
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1094Carausius 287-93AD
Antoninianus
Obv “IMP CARAVSIVS PF AVG”
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev “VIRTVS AVG”
Woman standing right holding standard clasping hand of emperor standing left
Uncertain mint
-/-//XX
RIC 1094
RIC cites the collection of Sir John Evans for this type and no Webb reference. Webb cites a similar type in the collection of Sir John Evans but with the reverse legend VIRTVS [MILIT?] (Webb 1222). The RIC description appears to be describing the same coin but re-read.mauseus
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1118-1143 AD - John II - Sear 1954 - Half TetarteronProbable Emperor: John II (r. 1118-1143 AD)
Date: 1118-1143 AD
Condition: Fair
Denomination: Half Tetarteron
Obverse: IC-XC
Christ standing facing on footstool, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium & colobium, and holding book of Gospels in left.
Reverse: I ΔECΠOT
John standing facing, wearing crown, divitision and loros, and holding labarum and globus cruciger.
Thessalonica mint
Sear 1954
1.67g; 15.7mm; 180°Pep
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1118-1143 AD - John II - Sear 1954 - Half Tetarteron - 2nd ExampleProbable Emperor: John II (r. 1118-1143 AD)
Date: 1118-1143 AD
Condition: Fair
Denomination: Half Tetarteron
Obverse: IC-XC
Christ standing facing on footstool, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium & colobium, and holding book of Gospels in left.
Reverse: I ΔECΠOT
John standing facing, wearing crown, divitision and loros, and holding labarum and globus cruciger.
Thessalonica mint
Sear 1954
2.14g; 16.3mm; 210°Pep
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1154 - 1189, HENRY II, AR 'Tealby' Penny, Struck 1158 - 1163 at Canterbury, EnglandObverse: HENRI • REX • A -. Crowned facing bust of Henry II, his head turned slightly to the left, holding sceptre tipped with a cross potent in his right hand. Crown has three vertical uprights each topped by a fleur-de-lis.
Reverse: + ROGIER : ON : CANT surrounding short cross potent within beaded circle, small cross potents in each quarter. Moneyer: Rogier, cognate with the modern English name of Roger. Mintmark: Cross potent.
Class A bust
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 4h
Flan chipped and cracked, legends largely illegible
SPINK: 1337
The attribution to mint and moneyer is not 100% certain, but is the best fit I have been able to make from the remaining visible letters in the inscription
For the first few years of Henry II's reign the coins of King Stephen continued to be produced, but in 1158, a new 'cross and crosslet' coinage was introduced in England. While this coinage was acceptable in terms of weight and silver quality, it is notorious for its ugly appearance, bad craftsmanship and careless execution. It is a fact that this coinage is among the worst struck of any issue of English regal coinage. The cross and crosslet type coinage of King Henry II is more often called 'Tealby' because of the enormous hoard of these coins which was found in late 1807 at Bayons Manor farm near Tealby in Lincolnshire. This hoard, which originally amounted to over 5,700 pieces, was first reported in the Stamford Mercury of the 6th November 1807, but unfortunately the majority of the coins, more than 5,000 of them, were sent to be melted down at the Tower of London and only some 600 pieces were saved for national and important private collections.
Henry II became King of England in 1154 and reigned until his death in 1189. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151, his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185.
By the age of 14, Henry became actively involved in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the English throne, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign Henry re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This culminated in the murder of Becket by the high altar in his own church in 1170. This horrified Christians and, although Beckett was apparently disliked by the monks in life, in death he became a martyr, was canonised, and a religious cult grew up around his sainthood.
Henry II soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse, but despite numerous conferences and treaties, no lasting peace agreement was reached.
Henry and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the kingdom began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne all allied themselves with the rebels. This “Great Revolt” was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. Henry II's invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, which led to a final rebellion. Henry II was decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and, suffering from a bleeding ulcer, he retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. Henry died soon afterwards and was succeeded by his son Richard I (the lionheart).
Many of the changes Henry II introduced during his long reign had long-term consequences, his legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems.
*Alex
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1154 - 1189, HENRY II, AR Short-cross Penny, Struck 1180 - 1189 at Winchester, EnglandObverse: HENRICVS • REX around central circle enclosing a crowned, draped and bearded facing bust of Henry II holding a sceptre tipped with a cross pommee in his right hand.
Reverse: + GOCELM • ON • WIN. Voided short cross dividing legend into quarters, crosslets in each quarter of inner circle. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Gocelm, which is a name of Germanic Frankish origin.
Issue type Class 1b
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 1344
On the night of 14th/15th July 1180 the Winchester mint burnt down, and the fire spread to "the greater and better part" of the city. The production of the new Short Cross coinage had just started earlier in 1180, and Winchester evidently only had one centralized mint building from the beginning of the new coinage. At the time of the fire the mint appears to have had four moneyers (Clement, Gocelm, Henri, and Rodbert), and Short Cross Class Ia2 was in production. After the fire some of the mint's obverse dies of Classes Ia1 and Ia2 were used at the Wilton mint, apparently as an emergency measure. The coinage of the moneyer Henri ends abruptly at this time and he seems to have been replaced by Adam, whose known issues start in Class Ia2, and at Wilton in Class 1a2 it looks like Osbert replaced Iohan. Osbert continued to issue coins in Winchester after the fire, but he seems to have been regarded as a Wilton moneyer allowed to use the facilities of the Winchester mint. The Winchester coinage of Osbert and three other moneyers (Clement, Reinier, and Rodbert) whose issues end in Class Ib1 was probably restricted to the recoinage of 1180 to 1182. After that only two moneyers remained striking Class Ib2 at Winchester (Adam and Gocelm) and, from 1183 to 1184, it is recorded that these moneyers were responsible for a rent of 2 marks each per annum for the use of the mint building.
Henry II became King of England in 1154 and reigned until his death in 1189. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151, his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185.
By the age of 14, Henry became actively involved in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the English throne, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign Henry re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This culminated in the murder of Becket by the high altar in his own church in 1170. This horrified Christians and, although Beckett was apparently disliked by the monks in life, in death he became a martyr, was canonised, and a religious cult grew up around his sainthood.
Henry II soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse, but despite numerous conferences and treaties, no lasting peace agreement was reached.
Henry and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the kingdom began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne all allied themselves with the rebels. This “Great Revolt” was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. Henry II's invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, which led to a final rebellion. Henry II was decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and, suffering from a bleeding ulcer, he retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. Henry died soon afterwards and was succeeded by his son Richard I (the lionheart).
Many of the changes Henry II introduced during his long reign had long-term consequences, his legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems.*Alex
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1169 - 1214, William I "the lion", AR Penny, Struck 1205 - 1230 at Perth or Edinburgh, ScotlandObverse: + LE REI WILAM•: Head of William I facing left, wearing crown of pellets, sceptre to left, within inner circle of pellets. All surrounded by outer circle of pellets. Cross potent in legend.
Reverse: + hVE WALTER: Voided short cross, six pointed star in each angle, within inner circle of pellets. All surrounded by outer circle of pellets. Cross potent in legend. (No mint name on coin. Moneyers: Hue (cognate with the modern English name of Hugh) and Walter, the Edinburgh and Perth moneyers working jointly)
Short cross, phase B. Late William I and posthumous issue struck c.1205 to c.1230.
Diameter: 21mm | Weight: 1.3gm | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 5029
William I was crowned on 24th December 1165, he came to the throne when his elder brother Malcolm IV died at the age of 24 on 9th December 1165.
Early in his reign William attempted to regain control of Northumbria which had been lost, in 1157 during the reign of Malcolm IV, to the Anglo-Normans under Henry II. He thereby lent support to the English barons who rebelled against Henry II in 1173. In 1174 however, while actively assisting the rebels at the Battle of Alnwick, William was captured by Henry's forces and taken to Falaise in Normandy. He was forced, under the terms of the Treaty of Falaise which he signed in December, to do homage for the whole of Scotland and also to hand over the castles of Roxburgh, Berwick and Edinburgh. Edinburgh, however, was later returned to him as part of the dowry of Ermengarde, a cousin of Henry II, whom William married in 1186.
The Treaty of Falaise remained in force for the next fifteen years until the new English King Richard the Lionheart, needing money for the Third Crusade, agreed to terminate it in return for 10,000 marks. William also attempted to purchase Northumbria from Richard, however his offer of 15,000 marks was rejected due to him wanting all the castles within the lands, something Richard was not willing to concede.
Relations between Scotland and England remained tense during the first decade of the 13th century and in August 1209 King John decided to exploit the weakening leadership of the ageing Scottish monarch by marching a large army to Norham on the south side of the River Tweed. William bought John off with the promise of a large sum of money, and later, in 1212, he agreed to his only surviving son Alexander, marrying John's eldest daughter, Joan.
William I died in Stirling in 1214 and lies buried in Arbroath Abbey, which he is credited with founding in 1178. He was succeeded by his son, who reigned as Alexander II.
William I was not known as "the Lion" during his own lifetime, the title was attached to him because of his flag or standard, a red lion rampant on a yellow background which went on to become the Royal Banner of Scotland which is still used today.
William I died in 1214 but although Alexander II was 16 years old when he came to the throne, it would appear that he continued his father's issues for some 15 years and struck no coins in his own name until around 1230.
*Alex
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1198 Hadrian AS Roma 129-30 AD Clementia Reference.
RIC 714; RIC 1198; Strack 816; C 228
Bust D2/L
Obv. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS
Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust viewed from side
Rev. CLEMENTIA AVG COS III P P; S C in field
Clementia, draped, standing left, holding patera in extended right hand and vertical sceptre in left.
13.17 gr
27 mm
12h
Note.
Philippe Rossignol collection, John Jencek, San Mateo im August 2010okidoki
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1199 - 1216, John, AR Short cross penny, Struck 1205 - 1216 at Winchester, EnglandObverse: HENRICVS REX around central circle enclosing a crowned, draped and bearded facing bust of the king holding a sceptre tipped with a cross pommee in his right hand, bust extending to edge of flan.
Reverse: +ANDREV•ON•WI around voided short cross within circle, crosslets in each quarter. Moneyer: Andrev, cognate with the modern English name of Andrew.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.2gms | Die Axis: 4h
Class 5b
SPINK: 1351
The class four type short cross pennies of Henry II continued to be struck during the early years of John's reign, but in 1205 a recoinage was begun and new short cross pennies of better style replaced the older issues. Sixteen mints were initially employed for this recoinage but they were reduced to ten later on. All John's coins continued to bear his father's (Henry II) title of henricvs rex.
John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of the first Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
John, the youngest of the five sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was not expected to inherit significant lands which resulted in him being given the nickname John Lackland. However, after the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 1173 and 1174, John became Henry's favourite child. He was appointed Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. John's elder brothers William, Henry and Geoffrey died young and when Richard I became king in 1189, John was the potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard's administration whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade but despite this, after Richard died in 1199, John was proclaimed King of England.
Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has been the subject of much debate by historians from the 16th century onwards. These negative qualities have provided extensive material for fiction writers since the Victorian era, and even today John remains a recurring character within popular culture, primarily as a villain in films and stories regarding the Robin Hood legends.*Alex
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1199-1216, John, AR Penny, Struck 1207 - 1211 at Dublin, IrelandObverse: IOHANNES REX around triangle enclosing a crowned and draped facing bust of King John holding, in his right hand, a sceptre tipped with a cross pommée which extends through the side of the triangle into the legend. Quatrefoil to right of bust.
Reverse: ROBERD ON DIVE around triangle containing sun over crescent moon and a star in each angle. Cross pattée at apex of each point of the triangle and above legend on each of the three sides. Moneyer: Roberd, cognate with the modern English name of Robin.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 1.2gms | Die Axis: 4h
SPINK: 6228
Third issue "REX" coinage. This was the only coinage struck by King John in his own name.
John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of the first Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
John, the youngest of the five sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was not expected to inherit significant lands which resulted in him being given the nickname John Lackland. However, after the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 1173 and 1174, John became Henry's favourite child. He was appointed Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. John's elder brothers William, Henry and Geoffrey died young and when Richard I became king in 1189, John was the potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard's administration whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade but despite this, after Richard died in 1199, John was proclaimed King of England.
King John contracted dysentery at Lynn in 1216 but, just before his death, he managed to dictate a brief will. This will still survives and as part of it John requested: "I will that my body be buried in the church of St. Mary and St. Wulfstan of Worcester".
Some of King John's favourite hunting grounds were in Worcester, at Kinver and Feckenham, and he had a special affection for Saint Wulfstan, one of the two great Anglo-Saxon saints whose shrines and tombs were also at Worcester. Both Saint Wulfstan and Saint Oswald can be seen in miniature beside the head of the effigy of King John on his tomb.
Medieval effigies usually show the subject in the prime of life, however the effigy on King John's tomb is unique in that not only is it a life-like image of him, it is also the oldest royal effigy in England.
King John's tomb has been opened twice, once in 1529 and again in 1797. At the first opening it was said that John's head was covered with a monk's cowl, however it is now thought that this was probably his coronation cap. When the tomb was opened for the second time the antiquarians responsible discovered that a robe of crimson damask had originally covered the king's body but, by 1797, most of the embroidery had deteriorated. They also found the remains of a sword which lay down the left side of the body along with parts of its scabbard.
*Alex
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1216 - 1272, Henry III, AR Penny, Struck 1217 - 1242 at London, England (Short Cross Issue)Obverse: HENRICVS REX around central circle enclosing a crowned, draped and bearded facing bust of Henry III holding a sceptre tipped with a cross pommee in his right hand.
Reverse: + GIFFREI ON LVND. Voided short cross dividing legend into quarters, crosslets in each quarter of inner circle. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Giffrei, cognate with the modern English name of Geoffrey.
Issue type 7c, distinguished by the degraded portrait and large lettering.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.1gms | Die Axis: 4h
SPINK: 1356C
HENRY III AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Henry III was the eldest son of King John and came to the throne at the age of nine. He was king of England from 1216 until his death in 1272, ruling longer than any other English monarch until the reign of George III.
Henry expressed a lifelong interest in architecture and much of what constitutes the Tower of London today is a result of Henry's work, he added several towers and a curtain wall to expand the White Tower beginning in 1238. Westminster Abbey however, is considered to be Henry's greatest building work. The project began in 1245, when Henry sent his architect Henry de Reynes to visit the French cities of Rheims, Chartres, Bourges and Amiens and Paris' royal chapel Sainte-Chapelle to learn the Gothic technique that he much admired.
The Westminster Abbey that stood previously on the site had been erected by Edward the Confessor in 1042. Edward the Confessor was a hero of Henry's, and he probably named his son (the future Edward I) after him. The foundations and crypt are still those of Edward the Confessor's Abbey, but everything above ground today is the building begun by Henry III. The tomb of Edward the Confessor was moved to a new position of honour in 1269 at the very centre of the new abbey, and when Henry III died in 1272 he was buried beside Edward's shrine in the exact position the bones of his hero had lain for 200 years.
*Alex
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1216 - 1272, Henry III, AR Penny, Struck 1248 - 1250 at London, England (Long Cross Issue)Obverse: HENRICVS REX : III. Crowned bust of Henry III facing within circle of pellets. Mintmark: Six pointed star.
Reverse: NICOLE ON LVND. Voided long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle. Moneyer: Nicole, cognate with the modern English name of Nicholas. The surname Nicole originates in the Netherlands where it was notable for its various branches, and associated status or influence. The modern given name Nicole is a French feminine derivative of the masculine given name Nicolas.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 1363
HENRY III OF ENGLAND
The First Barons' War (1215 - 1217) was a civil war in England in which a group of rebellious barons led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, waged war against King John of England. The war resulted from King John's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta, which he had been forced to put his seal to on 15th June 1215, as well as from Louis' own ambitions regarding the English throne.
It was in the middle of this war that King John died leaving his son, the nine year old Henry III (who had been moved to safety at Corfe Castle in Dorset along with his mother, Queen Isabella) as his heir.
On his deathbed John appointed a council of thirteen executors to help Henry reclaim the kingdom, requesting that his son be placed into the guardianship of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The loyalists decided to crown Henry immediately to reinforce his claim to the throne. William knighted the boy, and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, the papal legate to England, then oversaw his coronation at Gloucester Cathedral on 28th October 1216. In the absence of the archbishops of either Canterbury or York, Henry was anointed by the bishops of Worcester and Exeter, and crowned by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester. During the civil war the royal crown had been lost, so instead, the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella. In 1217, Henry's forces, led by William Marshal, finally defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich.
Henry's early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent and Justiciar of England and Ireland, then by Peter des Roches, and they re-established royal authority after the war. In 1225 Henry promised to abide by the final and definitative version of the Magna Carta, freely authenticated by the great seal of Henry III himself, which protected the rights of the major barons and placed a limit on royal power. It is the clauses of this, the 1225 Magna Carta signed by Henry III, not the King John Magna Carta of 1215, which are on the Statute Books of the United Kingdom today.*Alex
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1272 - 1307, EDWARD I, AR Farthing, Struck 1279 - 1299 at London, EnglandObverse: + EDWARDVS REX. Crowned bust of Edward I facing within circle of pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: LONDONIENSIS. Long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle.
Undated Farthing, Class 3c
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 0.42gms | Die Axis: 2h
SPINK: 1445
This is an early issue farthing with the reverse legend “LONDONIENSIS” which was later replaced by the ubiquitous legend “CIVITAS LONDON” for the London mint. Edward I began a major recoinage in 1279 which consisted not only of pennies, but new round half-pennies and farthings as well, and also introduced a new denomination, the fourpenny piece called the "Groat".
Edward I was King of England from 1272 - 1307. He was the eldest surviving son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. The contests between his father and the barons led by Simon de Montfort called Edward early into active life when he restored the royal authority within months by defeating and killing de Montfort at the battle of Evesham in 1265. He then proceeded to Palestine, where no conquest of any importance was achieved. After further campaigns in Italy and France he returned to England on his father's death and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1274.
Edward was popular because he identified himself with the growing tide of nationalism sweeping the country, displayed later in his persecution and banishment of the Jews which was the culmination of many years of anti-semitism in England.
Edward now turned his attention to the west and so, following a revolt in the Principality of Wales against English influence, Edward commenced a war which ended in the annexation of the Principality to the English Crown in 1283. He secured his conquest by building nine castles to watch over it and created his eldest son, Edward the Prince of Wales in 1301.
Edward's great ambition, however, was to gain possession of Scotland, but the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway, who was to have been married to Edward's son, for a time frustrated the king's designs. However the sudden death of the King of Scotland, Alexander III, and the contested succession soon gave him the opportunity to intervene. He was invited by the Scots to arbitrate and choose between the thirteen competitors for the Scottish throne. Edward's choice, John Balliol, who he conceived as his puppet, was persuaded to do homage for his crown to Edward at Newcastle but was then forced to throw off Edward's overlordship by the indignation of the Scottish people. An alliance between the French and the Scots now followed, and Edward, then at war with the French king over possession of Gascony, was compelled to march his army north. Edward invaded Scotland in 1296 and devastated the country, which earned him the sobriquet 'Hammer of the Scots'. It was at this time that the symbolic Stone of Destiny was removed from Scone. Edward's influence had tainted Balliol's reign and the Scottish nobility deposed him and appointed a council of twelve to rule instead. Balliol abdicated and was eventually sent to France where he retired into obscurity, taking no more part in politics. Scotland was then left without a monarch until the accession of Robert the Bruce in 1306.
Meanwhile Edward assumed the administration of the country. However the following summer a new opposition to Edward took place under William Wallace whose successes, notably at Stirling Bridge, forced Edward to return to Scotland with an army of 100,000 men. Although he defeated Wallace's army at Falkirk, and Wallace himself was betrayed, Edward's unjust and barbaric execution of him as a traitor in London made Wallace a national hero in Scotland, and resistance to England became paramount among the people. All Edward's efforts to reduce the country to obedience were unravelling, and after the crowning of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, as Robert I of Scotland in 1306 an enraged Edward assembled another army and marched yet again against the Scots. However, Edward only reached Burgh-on-Sands, a village near Carlisle, when he died. His body was taken back to London and he was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Edward I was married twice: to Eleanor of Castile, by whom he had sixteen children, and Margaret of France by whom he had three. Twelve memorials to his first wife stood between Nottingham and London to mark the journey taken by her funeral cortege. Three of those memorials, known as "Eleanor Crosses", can still be seen today.*Alex
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1272 - 1307, EDWARD I, AR Penny, Struck 1296 - 1306 at Berwick-on-Tweed, EnglandObverse: + EDWAR ANGL DNS HYB. Crowned bust of Edward I facing within circle of pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: VILLA BEREVVICI. Long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle.
Undated Penny, Class 10 Berwick Type II (Local dies). Issues from this mint are quite rare.
Diameter: 21.5mm | Weight: 1.0gms | Die Axis: 2h
SPINK: 1415
BERWICK
In September 1290, upon the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, there arose a number of claimants to the throne of Scotland. The Guardians of Scotland, who were the de facto heads of state until a king was chosen, asked Edward I of England to conduct the court proceedings in the dispute because the late King Alexander III had been married to Edward's sister, Margaret of England.
John Balliol, a descendant of King David I, was chosen and he was inaugurated at Scone, on St. Andrew's Day, 30 November 1292. But Edward I treated both Baliol and Scotland with contempt and demanded military support for his war against France. The Scottish response was to form an alliance with the French, invade England, and launch an attack on Carlisle.
After the failure of the Scottish attack on Carlisle, Edward I marched north and, on 28th March 1296, he crossed the river Tweed which borders the two countries, with his troops. On the following day he marched on the town of Berwick, which was Scotland's most important trading port and second only to London in economic importance in medieval Britain at that time.
Contemporary accounts of the number slain range anywhere from 4,000 to 20,000. "When the town had been taken in this way and its citizens had submitted, Edward spared no one, whatever the age or sex, and for two days streams of blood flowed from the bodies of the slain, for in his tyrannous rage he ordered 7,500 souls of both sexes to be massacred...So that mills could be turned by the flow of their blood." - Account of the Massacre of Berwick, from Bower's Scotichronicon.
Berwick's garrison was commanded by William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, whose life and those of his garrison were spared after he surrendered and the English took the castle.
Berwick was recaptured by the Scots in 1318 but the town changed hands between the two countries several times during the following years until it was finally captured for the English by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III of England, in 1482. The Scots however, did not accept this conquest for at least two centuries after this date as is evidenced by innumerable charters.
*Alex
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1272 - 1307, EDWARD I, AR Penny, Struck 1305 - 1306 at London, EnglandObverse: + EDWAR ANGL DNS HYB. Crowned bust of Edward I facing within circle of pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: CIVITAS LONDON. Long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle.
Undated Penny, type 10cf1
Diameter: 18.5mm | Weight: 1.2gms | Die Axis: 9h
SPINK: 1410
Edward I began a major recoinage in 1279 which consisted not only of pennies and new round half-pennies and farthings, but also introduced a new denomination, a fourpenny piece called the "Groat".
Edward I was King of England from 1272 - 1307. He was the eldest surviving son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. The contests between his father and the barons led by Simon de Montfort called Edward early into active life when he restored the royal authority within months by defeating and killing de Montfort at the battle of Evesham in 1265. He then proceeded to Palestine, where no conquest of any importance was achieved. After further campaigns in Italy and France he returned to England on his father's death and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1274.
Edward was popular because he identified himself with the growing tide of nationalism sweeping the country, displayed later in his persecution and banishment of the Jews which was the culmination of many years of anti-semitism in England.
Edward now turned his attention to the west and so, following a revolt in the Principality of Wales against English influence, Edward commenced a war which ended in the annexation of the Principality to the English Crown in 1283. He secured his conquest by building nine castles to watch over it and created his eldest son, Edward the Prince of Wales in 1301.
Edward's great ambition, however, was to gain possession of Scotland, but the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway, who was to have been married to Edward's son, for a time frustrated the king's designs. However the sudden death of the King of Scotland, Alexander III, and the contested succession soon gave him the opportunity to intervene. He was invited by the Scots to arbitrate and choose between the thirteen competitors for the Scottish throne. Edward's choice, John Balliol, who he conceived as his puppet, was persuaded to do homage for his crown to Edward at Newcastle but was then forced to throw off Edward's overlordship by the indignation of the Scottish people. An alliance between the French and the Scots now followed, and Edward, then at war with the French king over possession of Gascony, was compelled to march his army north. Edward invaded Scotland in 1296 and devastated the country, which earned him the sobriquet 'Hammer of the Scots'. It was at this time that the symbolic Stone of Destiny was removed from Scone. Edward's influence had tainted Balliol's reign and the Scottish nobility deposed him and appointed a council of twelve to rule instead. Balliol abdicated and was eventually sent to France where he retired into obscurity, taking no more part in politics. Scotland was then left without a monarch until the accession of Robert the Bruce in 1306.
Meanwhile Edward assumed the administration of the country. However the following summer a new opposition to Edward took place under William Wallace whose successes, notably at Stirling Bridge, forced Edward to return to Scotland with an army of 100,000 men. Although he defeated Wallace's army at Falkirk, and Wallace himself was betrayed, Edward's unjust and barbaric execution of him as a traitor in London made Wallace a national hero in Scotland, and resistance to England became paramount among the people. All Edward's efforts to reduce the country to obedience were unravelling, and after the crowning of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, as Robert I of Scotland in 1306 an enraged Edward assembled another army and marched yet again against the Scots. However, Edward only reached Burgh-on-Sands, a village near Carlisle, when he died. His body was taken back to London and he was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Edward I was married twice: to Eleanor of Castile, by whom he had sixteen children, and Margaret of France by whom he had three. Twelve memorials to his first wife stood between Nottingham and London to mark the journey taken by her funeral cortege. Three of those memorials, known as "Eleanor Crosses", can still be seen today.*Alex
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1329 - 1371, David II, AR Groat struck 1367 - 1371 at Edinburgh, ScotlandObverse: + DAVID ‡ DEI ‡ GRA ‡ REX ‡ SCOTORVM. Crowned bust of David II facing left, sceptre topped with a lis and with a star at its base before, within double tressure of six arches broken at the king's neck, small trefoils in spandrels, surrounded by beaded inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattée in legend and two small crosses in spaces between words. The whole within beaded outer circle.
Reverse: + DnS PTECTOR MS LIBATOR MS (God is my protector and redeemer) / VILLA EDINBURGh. Long cross pattée dividing two concentric legends separated by two beaded circles into quarters, pierced mullet in each quarter of inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattée in outer legend. The whole within beaded outer circle.
Diameter: 28mm | Weight: 3.55gms | Die Axis: 6h | Class D, third (light) coinage
SPINK: 5125
David Bruce, Robert the Bruce's only surviving son, was King of Scotland for nearly 42 years, from 1329 until his death in 1371. David was born in 1324 when Bruce was aged 50 and at the age of four he was married to Joan, the seven year old sister of Edward III of England at a time when Robert the Bruce was trying to forge better relations with England. However David was only five years old when, in 1329, his father died, he was crowned as King David II at Scone on 24 November 1331, holding a small sceptre that had been specially made for him.
Edward Balliol, son of John Balliol, supported by a number of nobles who had been disinherited by Robert the Bruce, soon started a rebellion. In August 1332 at the Battle of Dupplin Moor, near Perth, Balliol defeated David's Regent, the Earl of Mar, and in September Balliol was crowned at Scone. He was soon deposed by the supporters of David II but, in 1333, after the Scottish army led by Archibald, Lord of Douglas, attacked Balliol and lost at the Battle of Halidon Hill, Balliol was restored to power. But this Scottish game of thrones continued for several more years, Balliol was deposed again in 1334 only to be restored in 1335. The young King David was driven into exile in France, but returned from there in 1341, and finally deposed Edward Balliol for the last time.
In 1346, responding to an appeal for help from France, David II invaded England. But, at the Battle of Neville's Cross, he was captured and remained a prisoner at the English court until 1357 when he was returned to Scotland on the promise of payment of a large ransom.
David II ruled with authority and trade increased during his rule. He continued to pursue the goal of a final peace with England and, at the time of his death, the Scottish monarchy was stronger, and the kingdom and the royal finances more prosperous than might have seemed possible.
David II died unexpectedly, in Edinburgh Castle, on 22 February 1371. He was buried in Holyrood Abbey, pictured above. David II left no children and he was succeeded by his nephew, Robert II, the son of David's half-sister, Marjorie Bruce.
*Alex
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1355 - 1375, Edward the Black Prince, AR Hardi d'Argent, Struck 1362 -1372 at Limoges, Aquitaine, FranceObverse: ED PO GNS REGI AGEL. Facing robed half-length figure of Edward wearing a coronet of a simple band around his head (as opposed to the crown of a king) under Gothic canopy, holding sword in right hand, left hand raised with finger pointing in benedictory position. Rosette either side of coronet.
Reverse: ✤ PRI-CPS ✤ AQIT-ANE Long cross collarino, pattée at the ends, extending through legend. Fleur de lis in first and second quarters; lion passant, guardant in second and third quarters. Rosettes (marked in text by ✤) in legend.
Diameter: 19.1mm | Weight: 1.033gms | Axis 6h
SPINK: 8134 | Elias: 204
Ex. FORVM Ancient Coins
Scarce
This coin was struck for use in the English territory held in France, it had the value of an English silver penny.
THE BLACK PRINCE
Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) was the eldest son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainaut. He was an excellent military leader and his victory over the French at the battle of Crécy in 1346 made him very popular at home in England. He was strongly impressed by the chivalrous attitude of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, who preferred to die rather than bear the dishonour of defeat and Edward took as his heraldic arms the ostrich feathers which the King of Bohemia had already worn. In 1356 Edward crushed the French at Poitiers, taking King Jean le Bon prisoner. The Treaty of Brétigny in May 1360, confirmed the independence of Aquitaine and Edward was its first prince (from 1362 to 1372). In 1369, war resumed with France but, after the first English defeats in Aquitaine, in 1371 the Black Prince returned to England and renounced his principality the following year. He died in 1376, his father Edward III died the next year, 1377, and Richard II, who was the son of the Black Prince, ascended the throne. The Black Prince, was the first English Prince of Wales not to become King of England.*Alex
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1371 - 1390, Robert II, AR Groat minted at Perth, ScotlandObverse: + ROBERTVS DEI GRA REX SCOTORVM. Crowned bust of Robert II facing left, sceptre topped with a lis and with a star at its base before, within double tressure of six arches broken at the king's neck, small trefoils in spandrels, surrounded by beaded inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattée in legend and small crosses in spaces between words. The whole within beaded outer circle.
Reverse: + DnS PTECTOR MS LIBATOR MS (God is my protector and redeemer) / VILLA DE PERTh X. Long cross pattée dividing two concentric legends separated by two beaded circles into quarters, pierced mullet in each quarter of inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattées in both inner and outer legends, but cross set as saltire in inner legend, small cross over crescent after DnS in outer legend. The whole within beaded outer circle.
Diameter: 30mm | Weight: 3.87gms | Die Axis: 12h
SPINK: 5136 | SCBI: 35, 460-72
Robert II's coinage was maintained at the same standard and in the same general style as that of David's last issue, but coins were struck at Perth and Dundee in addition to those of the Edinburgh mint.
Robert II was the first Scottish king of the Stuart line, he was the son of Walter, the sixth hereditary High Steward of Scotland, and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce. Robert II acted as regent during part of the period of imprisonment in England of David II and was himself imprisoned in England when Edward III was declared to be David's successor. The Scots never accepted this arrangement and, after several years of secret negotiations between David II and Edward III, in 1370 Robert was released. He peacefully succeeded to the throne on David II's death the following year.
Robert II succeeded to the throne at the age of 54 and was viewed by many in his kingdom as past his best. In November 1384 he was effectively deposed by his eldest son John, Earl of Carrick. John, however, was seriously injured after being kicked by a horse, and Robert II's second son, Robert, Earl of Fife, later the Duke of Albany, was appointed as Guardian of Scotland instead. Robert II died at Dundonald Castle on 19 April 1390, and was buried at Scone. He was succeeded by his son John, who confusingly took the name Robert III, probably because in Scotland "John" was a name too closely associated with John Balliol, the erstwhile protégé of Edward I.*Alex
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1377 - 1399, Richard II, AR Halfpenny struck at London, EnglandObverse: + RICARD : REX : ANGL. Crowned facing bust of Richard II within circle of pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: CIVITAS LONDON. Long cross pattée dividing legend around inner circle of pellets into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of circle.
Type II, intermediate style, lombardic n's in 'LONDON'
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 0.55gms | Die Axis: 12h
SPINK: 1699 | North: 1331b
Richard II was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Edward III's heir, Edward the Black Prince, was Richard's father but he died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent. When Edward III died the following year, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne.
During Richard's first years as king the government was in the hands of a series of regency councils which were under the control of Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War. Another major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, a crisis which the young king played a central part in suppressing.
*Alex
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1390 - 1406, Robert III, AR Halfgroat struck 1390 - 1403 at Perth, ScotlandObverse: + ROBERTVS ‡ D ‡ G ‡ REX ‡ SCOTORV. Facing crowned bust of Robert III within double tressure of five arches, broken at the king's shoulders, surrounded by diamond beaded inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattée in legend and small crosses in spaces between words. The whole within diamond beaded outer circle.
Reverse: + DnS PTECTOR MS LIBATOR MS (God is my protector and redeemer) / VILLA : DE PERTh X. Long cross pattée dividing two concentric legends separated by two beaded circles into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle. Mintmark, cross pattée in outer legend, cross set as saltire in inner legend. The whole within beaded outer circle.
Flan has been holed and later plugged
Diameter: 21.13mm | Weight: 1.23gms | Die Axis: 6h | Rare
SPINK: 5175
Robert III, born John Stewart, was King of Scotland from 1390 until his death in 1406. He was the eldest son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure and was legitimised with the marriage of his parents in 1347. He was around 53 years old when he ascended the throne.
Early in 1363 John joined his father in a rebellion against his great-uncle David II but submitted to David soon afterwards. By 1367 John had married Anabella Drummond and in 1368 David II created him Earl of Carrick.
John's father, Robert II, became king in 1371 after David II, who was childless, died unexpectedly. In the succeeding years John, who was influential in the government, became progressively more impatient at his father's longevity and in 1384 he got himself appointed the king's lieutenant after having coerced the general council to remove Robert II from direct rule.
John's administration saw a renewal of the conflict with England and, in 1388, the Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Otterburn during which the Scots' commander, James, Earl of Douglas, was killed.
By this time John had been badly injured from being kicked by a horse, but it was the loss of his powerful ally, Douglas, that saw a turnaround in support in favour of John's younger brother Robert, Earl of Fife, to whom the council transferred the lieutenancy in December 1388.
In 1390, Robert II died and John ascended the throne as Robert III, parliament having granted John permission to change his regnal name to Robert III, probably in part to maintain the link back to Robert I but also to disassociate himself from King John Balliol.
Robert, Earl of Fife continued as King's Lieutenant until February 1393 when power was returned to the king. However, at a council in 1399 owing to the king's 'sickness of his person', David, now Duke of Rothesay, became King's Lieutenant under the supervision of a special parliamentary group dominated by Robert, Earl of Fife, now styled Duke of Albany.
After this, Robert III withdrew to his lands in the west and for a time played little or no part in affairs of state. He was powerless to interfere when a dispute between his brother, Robert, Duke of Albany, and his son, David, Duke of Rothesay arose in 1401, which led to David's imprisonment and death in 1402. The general council absolved the Duke of Albany from blame and reappointed him as the King's Lieutenant. The only impediment now to Robert, Duke of Albany inheriting the throne was Robert III's surviving son, James, Earl of Carrick. In 1406, the 11-year-old James, along with the Earl of Orkney, fled to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth after being attacked by allies of the Duke of Albany. They remained there for over a month before a ship picked them up to take them to France. However, when their ship was off Flamborough head, it was captured by the English who handed James over as a prisoner to King Henry IV of England. Robert III was at Rothesay Castle where, after hearing of his son's captivity, he died on 4th April 1406. Robert III was buried in Paisley Abbey and in 1888 Queen Victoria provided a new canopy for his tomb.
*Alex
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1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University
Introduction
The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.
It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.
Early Life
Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.
Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.
Julian as Caesar
Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.
From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.
Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.
Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".
Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.
Julian Augustus
In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.
Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.
During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.
Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.
Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.
For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."
Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.
(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)
Julian’s Persian Campaign
The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.
Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.
Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.
Conclusion
Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.
In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki
Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1410a, Jovian, 27 June 363 - 17 February 364 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC 179, aVF, Constantinople, 3.126g, 21.6mm, 180o. Obverse: D N IOVIANVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust left; Reverse: VOT V MVLT X within wreath, CONSPG in exergue; scarce.
Flavius Jovianuswas born in 331 at Singidunum, modern Belgrade. His distinguished father, Varronianus, had been a tribune of the legion Ioviani and a comes domesticorum, perhaps under Constantius II, who had retired to private life shortly before Jovian's elevation to the purple. Jovian married a daughter of Lucillianus, perhaps named Charito, and by her produced at least two children.
Jovian himself was a protector domesticus under Constantius II and Julian and, under Julian, primicerius domesticorum. Various Christian sources maintain that Jovian's Christianity led to his deposition by Julian, though most modern scholars dismiss this as ex post facto Christian apologetic. Jovian, recalled to the ranks if he had ever been dismissed, marched with Julian against Sapor in 363, and on 27 June, the day after that emperor's death, was acclaimed Augustus.
Ammianus and Zosimus, among others, detail the difficult straits of the Roman army during its withdrawal from Persian territory, Ammianus from the perspective of a proud soldier confident even in defeat of the superiority of Roman arms, Zosimus, in a much shorter and confused version, concentrating on the predicament of Jovian's troops and on the dire effects to the empire of the peace terms agreed to with Sapor. These terms entailed the cessation to Persia of Roman territory beyond the Tigris -- the cities of Singara and Nisibis, however, to be surrendered on the condition of the safe passage of their inhabitants -- and the guarantee of the neutrality of Rome's ally Arsaces, King of Armenia, in the event of future hostilities between Roman and Persia. Ammianus asserts that in agreeing to these terms Jovian misjudged his tactical strength and wasted an opportunity presented by negotiations with Sapor to move his forces closer to supplies at Corduena, and that Jovian acted on the advise of flatterers to preserve the fighting strength of his forces in the event of an attempt by Julian's relative Procopius to seize the throne. Others present the treaty terms as unavoidable given the Roman predicament.
Jovian appears to have treaded cautiously with regard to religious matters during the early months of his reign. Eunapius says that Jovian continued to honor Maximus and Priscus, the Neoplatonist advisors of Julian, and, upon reaching Tarsus, Jovian performed funeral rites for Julian. Nonetheless, various Christians, most notably Athanasius, took the initiative in an effort to gain Jovian's favor and support. An adherent of the Nicaean creed, Jovian did eventually recall various bishops of homoousian disposition and restore to their followers churches lost under earlier emperors. But in spite of such measures, unity among various Christian sects seems to have been the foremost concern of Jovian, whose ipsissima verba Socrates Scholasticus purports to give: "I abhor contentiousness, but love and honor those hurrying towards unanimity" (Hist. Eccl. 3.25).
Jovian died at the age of thirty-two on 17 February 364 at Dadastana on the boundary of Bithynia and Galatia. The cause of his death was most probably natural and is variously attributed to overeating, the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, or suffocation from fumes of charcoal or of the fresh paint on the room in which he was sleeping. Ammianus' comparison of the circumstances of Jovian's death to those of Scipio Aemilianus suggest the possibility of foul play, as does John of Antioch's reference to a poisoned rather than a poisonous mushroom, while John Chrysostom -- in a highly suspect literary context of consolatio-- asserts outright that the emperor was murdered. Eutropius records that he was enrolled among the gods, inter Divos relatus est. Zonaras says he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles and that his wife, Charito, was eventually laid to rest beside him.
Ancient authors agree that Jovian was of modest intellect but imposing physique and disposed to excessive eating and drinking.
By Thomas Banchich, Canisius College
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited By J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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1423-1448 AD - John VIII Palaeologus - Stavraton - Constantinople mintEmperor: John VIII Palaeologus (r. 1423-1448 AD)
Date: 1423-1448 AD
Condition: aVF
Denomination: Stavraton
Obverse:  - 
Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator.
Reverse:             /      or variants in two lines around crowned facing bust of John with pellets flanking.
Constantinople mint
DO 1706; Sear 2564; Bendall 348.20, sigla 18
6.59g; 23.8mm; 225°
Ex CNGPep
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146 - Maximianus Herculius - Billon tetradrachm - Milne 5172Billon tetradrachm
Obv:– MAXIMIANOC CEB, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– None, Homonoia, standing left, raising right hand , holding double cornucopiae in left.
Minted in Alexandria (L | I). Year 6. A.D. 294-295
Reference(s) – Milne 5172. Emmett 4141(10) R3. Curtis -. BMC -. Dattari 5939
ex - John Aiello collection
8.01g. 19.81 mm. 0 degrees maridvnvm
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1505b, Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. (Antioch)Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 44(b), VF, Antioch, 2.17g, 18.1mm, 180o, 9 Aug 378 - 25 Aug 383 A.D. Obverse: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONCORDIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, r. foot on prow, globe in l., scepter in r., Q and F at sides, ANTG in ex; scarce.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1505c, Theodosius I, 379 - 395 A.D. (Constantinople)Theodosius I (379 - 395 AD) AE3. 388-394 AD, RIC IX 27(a)3, Third Officina. Seventh Period. 20.27 mm. 4.8gm. Near VF with black and earthen patina. Constantinople. Obverse: DN THEODO-SIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, & cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLORIA-ROMANORVM, Theodosius I standing, facing, holding labarum and globe, CONSB in exergue (scarcer reverse). A Spanish find.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1625 - 1649, CHARLES I, AR Twenty Pence, Struck 1637 - 1638 at Edinburgh, ScotlandObverse: CAR•D:G•SCOT•ANG•FR•ET•HIB•R•. Crowned bust of Charles I, which goes to the edge of the coin, facing left, XX with a small lozenge above and below behind bust; small B (for Briot) below.
Reverse: IVSTITIA•THRONVM•FIRMAT• small B (off flan, for Briot) at end of legend. Thistle with Scottish crown above. The reverse legend translates as 'Justice strengthens the Throne'.
This coin was produced using Briot's new coining press during the third coinage period which ran from 1637 to 1642.
Diameter: 17mm | Weight: 0.8gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 5581
Nicholas Briot, a Frenchman previously employed by the French and English mints, was appointed Master of the Scottish mint in August 1634. He was later joined by his son-in-law John Falconer, who succeeded him in 1646.
Briot's work was of the highest calibre, and his introduction of the mill and screw press gave the Scottish series of coins a technical excellence previously unknown.
After Briot's departure from Scotland in 1638 there was a rapid falling off from his high standard of workmanship. Although considerable use was made of Briot's punches for Falconer's third coinage issues, many of the dies were badly executed, and there was even more of a deterioration during the fourth coinage period which resulted in poorly produced coins of no artistic merit.
CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW FOR INFO ON CHARLES I
 *Alex
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1673 CHARLES II AE HALFPENNYObverse: CAROLVS•A•CAROLO. Laureate and cuirassed bust of Charles II facing left.
Reverse: BRITANNIA•. Britannia seated facing left, holding laurel branch and spear; 1673 in exergue.
Diameter: 29mm | Weight: 10.6gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3393
This portrait of Charles II was designed by Jan (John) Roettier (1631 - 1700).
The copper coinage of King Charles II, beginning in 1672, was the first modern coinage to show Britannia. The representation was adapted from a figure of Britannia on a sestertius of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, who reigned from A.D.138 to 161. Frances Teresa Stewart, who became Duchess of Richmond, is reputed to have been the model for this figure. Charles II was infatuated with her despite her refusal to be his mistress. It has also been said that the model may have been Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, who was another one of King Charles II's lady associates.
*Alex
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1675 CHARLES II AE FARTHINGObverse: CAROLVS•A•CAROLO. Laureate and cuirassed bust of Charles II facing left.
Reverse: BRITANNIA•. Britannia seated facing left, holding laurel branch and spear; 1675 in exergue.
Diameter: 23mm | Weight: 5.2gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3394
This portrait of Charles II was designed by Jan (John) Roettier (1631 - 1700).
The copper coinage of King Charles II, beginning in 1672, was the first modern coinage to show Britannia. The representation was adapted from a figure of Britannia on a sestertius of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, who reigned from A.D.138 to 161. Frances Teresa Stewart, who became Duchess of Richmond, is reputed to have been the model for this figure. Charles II was infatuated with her despite her refusal to be his mistress. It has also been said that the model may have been Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, who was another one of King Charles II's lady associates.*Alex
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1676 Charles II AR "Pattern Farthing"Obverse: CAROLVS•A•CAROLO•. Laureate and cuirassed bust of Charles II with long hair facing left, 1676 below.
Reverse: QVATVOR•MARIA VINDICO•. Britannia seated facing left, holding laurel branch and spear; BRITANNIA in exergue. No pellet between MARIA and VINDICO.
Diameter: 26mm | Weight: 5.9gms | Die Axis: 12h
Peck : 492
PATTERN OR MEDALET - RARE
This periwigged portrait of Charles II was designed by Jan (John) Roettier (1631 - 1700).
The legend, "Quatuor Maria Vindico," means "I claim the four seas," which Peck explains was "intended to give prominence to the king's pride and interest in the navy." The reason this legend never appeared on circulating coinage was probably because the legend was thought to be too provocative to the King of France.
It was Montagu who called this a Roettier pattern farthing of Charles II which, until the discovery in 1903 of 89 specimens in the cabinet of the Marquis of Ailsbury, had hitherto been considered the rarest of the "pattern farthings" of this type.
Peck, however, rejected Montagu's idea that these were patterns and wrote that it was much more likely that they were official medalets. In support of this view it should be noted that not only was this issue struck on a broader flan than usual, it was produced some four years after the issue of regular farthings had begun. It is perhaps also significant that this issue is unknown in copper and that it's die orientation is 12h (medallic orientation), against the 6h orientation which is the norm for the regular farthing coinage of the period. Incidentally, the silver value of this "farthing" would have been equivalent to one shilling and sixpence, that is 72 times the face value of a farthing at the time.*Alex
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1685 JAMES II TIN FARTHINGObverse: IACOBVS SECVNDVS. Laureate and cuirassed bust of James II facing right.
Reverse: BRITAN-NIA •. Britannia seated facing left, holding laurel branch in her right hand and spear in her left, arm resting on shield bearing the device of the union.
Edge: NVMMORVM * FAMVLVS * 1685 * in raised letters. Edge GVF+.
Diameter: 23mm | Weight: 5.7gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3420 | PECK: 547
Ex. Farthing Specialist, England (1972)
This portrait of James II was designed by Jan (John) Roettier (1631 - 1700). In 1684, under Charles II, the production of farthings was changed from copper to tin with a copper center plug. This was done to not only alleviate the critical state of the Cornish tin mining industry, but also to recoup the King's losses by giving the Crown an even greater profit margin. James II granted a patent to Thomas Neale and others to coin this money at the rate of twenty pence from each pound weight of tin on condition of them paying £40 per cent out of the profits to himself. As there was great concern about the potential for forgery, in addition to the copper plug as a security feature, the tin coins were also produced with a lettered edge inscription which translates as "The servant of the coinage", presumably meaning that it also serves to protect the coinage from forgery. In 1685, when James II came to the throne, tin halfpennies bearing his portrait, also with a copper center plug, were introduced. The reverse designs were identical to the previous ones of Charles II.
These tin coins had an alarming rate of wear from circulation and, because tin is far too reactive a metal to be used for coins, the tin coinage has readily corroded when exposed to the elements. The values of high grade examples, which are extremely rare, are thus at a premium.
 *Alex
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1696 WILLIAM III AE HALFPENNYObverse: GVLIELMVS•TERTIVS•. Laureate and cuirassed bust of William III facing right.
Reverse: BRITANNIA•. Britannia facing left, seated on shield and holding spear and olive-branch. In exergue, 1696.
Centre of reverse weakly struck.
Diameter: 29mm | Weight: 10.6gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3554
This portrait of William III was designed under John (Jan) Roettier (1631-c.1700) and his sons, Norbert and James. The Roettiers were medallists from a family whose members had distinguished themselves in the art for nearly two centuries. John was born in Antwerp, the eldest son, he learned the art of medal engraving and stone cutting from his father, Philip Roettiers who was a medallist and goldsmith. At an early age John was an assistant at the Antwerp Mint, but left in 1661 to go to London at the invitation of Charles II. In 1670 he became Chief engraver at the royal Mint, London, and remained at that post until 1698. Norbert Roettiers (1665-1727) was the third son of John Roettiers, with whom he apprenticed. In 1690 he was appointed Assistant Engraver at the Royal Mint, together with his brother James. James, however, was removed from his office at the mint in consequence of the theft of dies from the Tower of London and he died in 1698 after falling from his horse.*Alex
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1697 WILLIAM III AE FARTHINGObverse: GVLIELMVS•TERTIVS•. Laureate and cuirassed bust of William III facing right.
Reverse: BRITANNIA•. Britannia facing left, seated on shield and holding spear and olive-branch. In exergue, 1697.
Diameter: 23mm | Weight: 4.6gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3557
This portrait of William III was designed under John (Jan) Roettier (1631-c.1700) and his sons, Norbert and James. The Roettiers were medallists from a family whose members had distinguished themselves in the art for nearly two centuries. John was born in Antwerp, the eldest son, he learned the art of medal engraving and stone cutting from his father, Philip Roettiers who was a medallist and goldsmith. At an early age John was an assistant at the Antwerp Mint, but left in 1661 to go to London at the invitation of Charles II. In 1670 he became Chief engraver at the royal Mint, London, and remained at that post until 1698. Norbert Roettiers (1665-1727) was the third son of John Roettiers, with whom he apprenticed. In 1690 he was appointed Assistant Engraver at the Royal Mint, together with his brother James. James, however, was removed from his office at the mint in consequence of the theft of dies from the Tower of London and he died in 1698 after falling from his horse.*Alex
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1699 WILLIAM III AE FARTHINGObverse: GVLIELMVS•TERTIVS•. Laureate and cuirassed bust of William III facing right.
Reverse: BRITANNIA•1699. Britannia facing left, seated on shield and holding spear and olive-branch.
Diameter: 23mm | Weight: 4.3gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 3558
This portrait of William III was designed under John (Jan) Roettier (1631-c.1700) and his sons, Norbert and James. The Roettiers were medallists from a family whose members had distinguished themselves in the art for nearly two centuries. John was born in Antwerp, the eldest son, he learned the art of medal engraving and stone cutting from his father, Philip Roettiers who was a medallist and goldsmith. At an early age John was an assistant at the Antwerp Mint, but left in 1661 to go to London at the invitation of Charles II. In 1670 he became Chief engraver at the royal Mint, London, and remained at that post until 1698. Norbert Roettiers (1665-1727) was the third son of John Roettiers, with whom he apprenticed. In 1690 he was appointed Assistant Engraver at the Royal Mint, together with his brother James. James, however, was removed from his office at the mint in consequence of the theft of dies from the Tower of London and he died in 1698 after falling from his horse.*Alex
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