Constans - Help

[Crassus]

Hi dear friends

I need help to understand this coin, the obverse I see CONSTAN - S MAX .. VG

The coin looks like from Siscia?

the question is, what the legend MAX are doing in this coin?

17mm. - 1,4 grs

Thank you for your help

[SC]

It was a title that was used for Constans, Constantine II and Constantius II at Alexandria and Siscia after they father's death. 

It was used briefly for the three at Alexandria and for Constans and Constantius II at Siscia, but it became the regular type there for Constantine II.

It was of course used on all of Constantine I's coins before his death.

So my guess is that it may have been a mistake at Alexandria and even at Siscia.  The three sons were elevated to Augusti so the mints gave them the full MAX AVG of their father.  That was quickly corrected.  Except for Siscia which recognized CII as senior son.

SC
 

[Crassus]

The exergue looks like from Siscia, so this coin is a struck error, is know another with similar error?

[SC]

Yes it is from Siscia.

I did not mean it is an "error coin" in the way that term is usually used - a coin which deviates from the official plan.

The two mints meant to strike this coin and did so in huge numbers - likely 100,000s or millions.

The error comes from how the local mint officials interpreted their limited instructions.

They would have received a written instruction carried by hand over thousands of miles telling them that the three sons were now Augusti and to now strike coins using this term and not Caesar.  We don't have any such message preserved so it is hard to tell what they said but from this and many other fourth century examples we can assume that they did not contain very long or detailed instructions as it was not uncommon for different mints to handle such changes in different ways.

SC

[Crassus]

Thank you so much dear