An unpublished nummo of Valentinian III?

[antvwala]

In the list n. 95 of the an auction house, held in 2022, at lot no. 1456 was proposed a nummus minted in the name of Valentinian III, absent from the RIC and which in many respects appears difficult to insert in its coinage.
This coin, weighing 1.31 g and with a diameter of 13 mm, has been proposed as:
“Migration Period Vandals, Pseudo-Imperial Æ Nummus. In the name of Valentinian III. AD 425-455(?). DN VALEN...IVS P[...], diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / Garbled legend around, Victory dragging captive to left, holding wreath. BMC Vandals 48. 1.31g, 13mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. From a private English collection”.
The authority of J.P.C. Kent is such that it has not even been hypothesized that it could be a regular coin of Valentinian III, albeit unpublished, and therefore, as has also happened on other occasions, since it was not attributable to the RIC it could only be an imitative barbaric coin.
This typology has no place even for Valentinian II and, on the other hand, the style of the Victory is that of the fifth century: a similar design can be found in a nummo minted in the name of Maggiorano by the mint of Ravenna.
Not appearing consistent with the coinage of Valentinian II, all that remains is to see in the nominal legend a reference to Valentinian III and the quality of the coin, as well as the correctness of the legends, do not correspond to the proto-Vandal or Boniface imitative coinage, the only one minted in the name of this emperor, but are typical of the official coinage, although not Roman. In fact, the only letter that can be seen in the exergue is a V which could correspond to LVG or RV: therefore Lyon or Ravenna.
Around the Victory on the reverse you can see the final part of the legend, …ANORV…, which recalls the issue of the GLORIA ROMANORVM minted by the Lyon mint in the name of Valentinian III, probably in 424 also unknown to the RIC.
Therefore, albeit in a doubtful form, I propose to add this number to the other issued by the Lyon mint in the name of Valentinian III between 424 and 425.

[antvwala]

For those who are curious, I propose the image of the other nummus beaten by Lyons in the name of Valentinian III between 424 and 425, unknown to the RIC.

[antvwala]

Another nummus unknown to the RIC recently appeared in an auction and corresponds to the mint of Aquileia for which, therefore, we have two issues in the name of Valentinian III.

I am afraid that J.P.C. Kent was amazed by the magnificent work done on the El Djem treasure which allowed him to determine for the first time a picture of the bronze issues of Valentinian III. Unfortunately, this scheme was transferred as such to the RIC, neglecting that in that short time elapsed between the publication of the note on the treasure of El Djem (1988) and the publication of the RIC (1994) there were numerous finds which vastly broadened the knowledge of the bronze coinage of Valentinian III.
Going beyond Kent's work is not to deny the validity of what he did. J.P.C. Kent is a great starting point, but it's time to go further.

[Joe Sermarini]

Please stop advertising for other sellers. I should never see the logo of another dealer on my website unless they are Procurator Monetae who participates here. 

[antvwala]

You are right. It was not my intention to publicize auction houses, but only to indicate the source of three unpublished nummi which question the corresponding part of the RIC. However I have removed the images extracted from the auction catalogues, and the reference to the name, leaving only the images of the coins.

[Joe Sermarini]

Thanks for your edits.

[antvwala]

Further proof of how deficient the RIC is regarding the nummi of Valentinian III.
These two nummi come from two different auctions: they are of the "Late Victories" type, but from the mint of Aquileia.

That's why I'm writing a book on this coinage, picking up two substantial articles on the same theme, published respectively in 2012 and 2015, taking advantage of the information derived from the study of two large unpublished nummi's hoards from the sixth century.

[Poemenius]

here the first one
https://www.academia.edu/92777898/Valentiniano_III_un_inedita_emissione_in_bronzo_dalla_zecca_di_Ravenna_Comunicazione_Bollettino_della_societ%C3%A0_numismatica_Italiana_80_pp_18_20

some others here
https://www.academia.edu/92286292/RIC_X_Alcuni_bronzi_inediti_a_nome_di_Arcadio_Elia_Eudossia_Valentiniano_III_Marciano_Leone_I_Basilisco_Zenonide_e_Zenone

bye

[antvwala]

Thank you Poemenius. The images had been reported to me but without their source.