Medal of Constantius I capturing London

[SRukke]

Stumbled on this medallion and the story of it and thought I would share.



THE 1922 ARRAS HOARD

Last week, Henry Bergos wrote: "I remember reading about
some French workers finding Roman Medallions. They were
told that they were counterfeiting them and would land in
prison if they didn't stop. The workers MELTED them!!!
They were gold and from the first 1/3 of the fourth century.
As I remember it this happened in 1924 as they were
building a subway in Paris."

Bob Lyall writes: "I heard that story 30 or more years ago,
possibly from one of the most respected and knowledgeable
UK coin dealers. If more data is desired, then I could ask
him (he is retired) or someone with a command of French
could try asking the Bibliotech Nationale in Paris."

Bob Leonard writes: "This is the Arras hoard, one of the
most famous hoards of Roman coins. "Found in Arras in
the suburb of Beaurains in France on the 21st of September
in 1922, the hoard was not the largest in quantity to be found,
only about 200 to 300 coins, but what made it famous were
the 40 Roman gold medallions it had." The story of many
huge medallions being melted is, unfortunately, true.

There are many papers about the Arras hoard in the ANS
library catalog."

One of the references Bob mentioned is the ANS' Numismatic
Notes and Monographs No. 28 by Agnes Baldwin Brett:
"Four Medallions from the Arras hoard", 1926.

A web search turned up other references to the hoard:
"Struck in AD 310 at Trier, the nine solidi Arras Medallion
depicts, on the reverse, the personification of London
kneeling before the city gate, which is approached by a
Roman warship. Constantius is portrayed mounted on
horseback in the guise of a triumphant emperor, holding
a spear in one hand and a globe in the other, with the
inscription "restorer of eternal light." Part of a treasure
hoard found in Arras, France in 1922, the medallion
sold at auction for $341,000 in 1996.

Carausius is depicted on the left, Allectus on the right.
Both wear the laurel crown of an emperor."
arras.html

" the 4 aurei struck in AD 305, part of the Arras Hoard
found in 1922 in France and still the only known specimen;
it was listed in the auction catalog at 375,000 Swiss
Francs and was bought by Gunnar Thesen of Oslo
Mynthandel, on behalf of a European client, for 510,000
Swiss Francs, the highest price ever for an antique Roman
coin put on the block in Switzerland."
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

[mwilson603]

Surely this is Constantine I not Constantius I?  And I have to say I am drooling over the picture 
regards
Mark

[mauseus]

Hi,

Two different medals are shown here; the obverse of one of Constantine and the reverse of one of Constantius.

Regards,

Mauseus

[SRukke]

Hi,

Two different medals are shown here; the obverse of one of Constantine and the reverse of one of Constantius.

Regards,

Mauseus

That's interesting. I didn't even catch that. I took the picture right off the net as it was posted.

[curtislclay]

The rumor that some huge Arras gold medallions were melted down has been convincingly refuted by P. Bastien in his monograph on the hoard, Le trésor de Beaurains (dit d'Arras), 1977, pp. 14-15.

"The foreman reported seeing a gold medallion of Nero, the size of a saucer." But it is impossible to believe that any such gigantic gold medallions were produced at such an early date!

Two workers were said to have brought two gold medallions of Constantius I to the local museum curator, and to have sold them as bullion to a jeweler when told they were fake. But the curator himself denied having condemned any medallions from the hoard.

Other coins from the hoard were alleged to have been destroyed by letting trains run over them on the railway tracks!

Bastien concludes: "Nothing in the behavior of the finders permits me to believe that they would have made such mistakes, so I think the 'numismatic tragedy' deplored by A. Evans never actually took place.

"Having misappropriated a substantial portion of the hoard, the Belgian workers spread the rumor that the coins had been destroyed or melted down. Then, in small groups and over a period of years, they sold the pieces that they had pretended no longer to possess."

[Heliodromus]

Hi,

Two different medals are shown here; the obverse of one of Constantine and the reverse of one of Constantius.

Regards,

Mauseus

Yep, and both are reproductions (electrotypes) too. The Constantine is the 9 solidi Trier Principi Ivventvtis.

Ben

[leetoone]

Further information on the hoard and the reproductions made by Bourgey is available on my website here:

http://www.hookmoor.com/home/?page_id=244

[SEstiot]

Here is as the Constantius Chlorus's gold multiplum looks like (my pictures of the Bourgey electrotype).
This gold multiple of ten aurei showing the reconquest of Britannia by C. Chlorus (minted in Treveri 297 AD) has - fortunately - not been melted and is kept in the Arras museum. It is an unicum.
P. Bastien & C. Metzger, Le trésor de Beaurains (dit d'Arras), Wetteren, 1977, n° 218

[SEstiot]

and, by the way, the gold multiple of 9 solidi in the name of Constantine (Trier always, minted in July 310 for his Quinquennalia) :
P. Bastien & C. Metzger, Le trésor de Beaurains (dit d'Arras), Wetteren, 1977, n°446.