Please congratulate your father for
his purchase! He got himself a unique silver
medallion, one of only 13 known of the
VOTA ORBIS ET VRBIS SEN ET P R type.
Of the 13 examples seven are holed, two of them twice (one is your father's). I attach an image of the other one.
The group is enigmatic. They were produced between 317 and 320, but we don't know exactly when or why. Only three mints struck the
type:
Aquileia,
Siscia and
Thessalonika. We know that
Constantine travelled up and down the Via Militaris across the Balkans during this time, and these silver pieces were probably donatives struck when he resided in the minting cities. At the same time, in the same mints, uniface gold medallions were also produced. They were intended as gifts (read: bribes) to "barbarian" chieftains or similar to. keep them calm. The fact that so many of these silver "medallions" are holed may indicate that they also were intended for the "barbarians" (who would wear them as status
symbols around the neck). Hopefully I will be able to write a paper on this later.
Again, a nice find! Please make sure to take some detailed photos and post somewhere. Actual specimens may disappear, but a photo once posted stays on.
/Lars Ramskold
