Teenyweeny 5th century? and difficult to identify

[Pellinore]

In the course of the years, a dozen of these very small Roman coins after 400 AD accumulated themselves in my coin shelves. No recognizable names... how can I ever find out the names of the emperors? 

There's this one for instance. Looks like an elderly emperor, and on the reverse he's meeting a dainty Victory. I can read only 'DN', Our Lord, not very useful. 13 mm, 1.78 gr. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Pellinore
Got the weight wrong

[ambr0zie]

I would say Arcadius 

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9970630

[Pellinore]

I don't recognize the portrait, but the text might very well be DN ARC. 

[ambr0zie]

I am not a LRBs expert, but I wouldn't rely too much on recognizing emperors' portraits as they are more or less generic. 

The coin I posted is similar in style/artistry. And the legend fits, from what I see. 

[hotwheelsearl]

1 hour ago, ambr0zie said:

I am not a LRBs expert, but I wouldn't rely too much on recognizing emperors' portraits as they are more or less generic. 

The coin I posted is similar in style/artistry. And the legend fits, from what I see. 

Very true. For example Arcadius was pretty young so definitely not an elder on this coin. 5th c got pretty dang generic. Sometimes impossible to ID outside of marching up emperor specific reverse types and mints.

[Severus Alexander]

RIC dates this type from 395-401 (RIC X 56-76, pp. 246-7), so it has to be either Arcadius or Honorius.  The first letter after "D N" looks more like an A, so I'd agree with the others that it's probably Arcadius.

Warren has a nice page on the type here: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/type45.html 

... and some images of the various mints here: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/type45i.html .  

So you might take an educated guess at the mint based on style.  I happen to have a dead-ringer stylewise, and it's Constantinople:

So it's a good bet yours is Constantinople too, though it's impossible to be sure. 

My coin is 16mm, yours has evidently been clipped down to a later standard.  Amazing they would bother to do this with a tiny AE, isn't it?  Here's an Esty type 33 I have, cut down to 12mm:

When I bought it I thought it was a rare type 73... oops!  Luckily only a 7 euro mistake, could've been a lot worse... 😆

[Orange Julius]

Here’s my Arcadius of the type from Constantinople.

[Marsyas Mike]

I feel your pain about the late LRB "Teeny-weenies".  This came my way in an undescribed lot.  My torturous efforts at attribution are below (notice I used @Valentinian's very helpful website:

Valentinian III?   Æ 10 (425-435 A.D.) Rome Mint? [D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG?], pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right / [V]ICTOR-[IA AVGG], Victory advancing left holding wreath and palm, Ɛ in left field, [RM in exergue?]. RIC X Valentinian III 2121?. (1.36 grams / 10 mm) eBay Jan. 2023 

Attribution Notes: "Primarily at Rome. Struck for Honorius, Theodosius II, Johannes, and Valentinian III." (augustuscoins)

Types with Ɛ in left field:

RIC X Val. III 2118 (PLA)

RIC X Valentinian III 2121

RIC X Honorius 1357 (408 - 423 A.D.)

RIC X Johannes 1909 (Theo. II)

RIC X Johannes 1910 (423 - 425 A.D.)

And yes, it is teeny-weeny:  

[Pellinore]

Thanks very much, so Arcadius it is. The page of the Augustuscoins website is most useful.