#1 - Falling Horseman
We offer four examples of the Falling Horseman type. In the upper left is a large, therefore earlier (late 340's) coin of Constantius II from the mint of Antioch.
FEL TEMP RE - PARATIO G AN E
On the lower left we see another coin of Constantius II from Antioch but this one is a few years later (c. 354-355) and, therefore, considerably smaller. While size and workmanship has declined, the pose and tribe of the barbarian shown seem similar. Legends are similar except for spacing and the officina (workshop) letter following the AN city mark being Z (Greek numeral for 7). The obverse die on this example shows a rather long transverse crack suggesting that the mint was working so hard putting out huge numbers of coins that they did not retire a defective die until absolutely necessary.
On the lower right is a coin of similar date but from the mint at Nicomedia in the name of Constantius Gallus Caesar. As Caesar, Gallus was not shown wearing an Imperial diadem but is bare headed. The legends read:
FEL TEMP REPARATIO SMN?
On the upper right is an example nearing the end. The portrait shows Julian II Caesar (Julian the Apostate) bareheaded. This might be a good time to mention the 'problem' with the name "Julian II". The obvious question is: "Who was Julian I?" People have been known to argue about this. Some support Didius Julianus who was Emperor for a very short time in 193 AD (which is a story you should read). Others promote Julian of Pannonia, a usurper against Carinus in 284 and 285 AD. Neither of these rulers are ever called Julian I. At some point historians decided to count one of them but not both making the Apostate II rather than III. Changing a convention of this sort is a difficult job so it is likely that historians will continue using Julian II even if it makes little sense. The reverse field bears a letter M (Roman numeral for 1000) which is believed to mean that 1000 of these little coins were valued at one gold solidus. This example is flatly struck with too little metal to fill the design of the die. We see a pigtailed Goth again but this one is slumped over grasping the neck of his horse. Those interested can see a few different barbarians on my FTR page. For this late issue, this example is about average condition (maybe better). Full legend, well struck coins of the M series are hard to find. This example is from the mint at Alexandria (ALE) followed by the workshop numeral D (delta=4). Were it present, the remaining reverse legend would be like the ones above. The legends read:
FEL TEMP REPARATIO ALED
This coin is the last of the Falling Horseman series. Inflation was nearing the worst time. Shortly after this coin was issued (c. 360) the coins became even smaller but the types were changed to what we will discuss as #4.