Constantius ll my 1st acient now im legit lol

[Paddy54]

My 1st acient now I'm one of you! ...we're all in trouble.

[ambr0zie]

Not bad at all for a first coin! Welcome to the club! I guarantee you will be satisfied! 

... 

 

 

And your wallet will not be! 

[thejewk]

Welcome to the club Paddy, nice first choice.  Any ideas what the text in the wreath signifies?

[Paddy54]

Not at all...these are way out of my wheelhouse....in fact theres no house or wheel... duh....calling Stevex6  lol

[Spaniard]

@Paddy54..Great coin to start...

Nice detail but I can't make out the exergue?..Maybe someone with better eyes?

VOT/XX/MVLT/XXX

Votis vicennalibus / Multis tricennalibus"
(Wishes for the twentieth year of reign and more for the incoming thirtieth year)

I actually have one of these so hopefully this will help?

Constantius II. 337-361 AD. AE Nummus (1.57 gm, 16mm). Antioch mint. Struck 347-348 AD.
Obv.: D N CONSTAN TIVS P F AVG, diademed head right.
Rev.: VOT / XX / MVLT / XXX, in laurel wreath below, SMANBI 12th officina. RIC#113.

Forum translates it to this...

Latin abbreviation: Votis Vicennalibus Multis Tricennalibus - vows (prayers) on the twentieth anniversary [of the emperor's rule], more for his [hoped-for] thirtieth anniversary.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Spaniard

[Paddy54]

Thanks everyone for your help...its well appreciated

[CPK]

Nice coin!

[John Conduitt]

49 minutes ago, Spaniard said:

Nice detail but I can't make out the exergue?

Well, it begins with an S, but that doesn't help as they all do 🤣 I don't think it's Siscia (SIS), Antioch (SMANA), Alexandria (SMALA) or Cyzicus (SMKA).

So Heraclea (SMHA) or Nicomedia (SMNA). I think Nicomedia. That's RIC 49/55 depending on whether there are dots around the letters.

Edited August 14, 2022 by John Conduitt

[Paddy54]

The seller had it taged as Antioch IDK furryfrog said no....again IDK sorry

[expat]

31 minutes ago, Paddy54 said:

The seller had it taged as Antioch IDK furryfrog said no....again IDK sorry

Nice start, Paddy, especially after having your first one stolen. See if you can ID yours here

https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/i.html

https://numismatics.org/ocre/results?lang=en

[Parthicus]

Welcome to the Dark Side @Paddy54 !  My first ancient coin was also a Constantius II, but with a different reverse type:

 

[Constantivs]

Here's his father Constantine The Great (large follis 29mm) and Grandfather Constantius I (large follis 29mm) ... just don't elongate it and you'll be fine 😀

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Constantivs

[Paddy54]

I really liked the strike on this one... now to do the attribution. 

[Constantivs]

19 minutes ago, Paddy54 said:

I really liked the strike on this one... now to do the attribution. 

Sure... its a great coin..

Reign: As Caesar, A.D. 293-305.
Denomination: Æ Follis.  Diameter: 29 mm.
Weight: 9.34 grams. Mint: Cyzicus, c. A.D. 297-299.
Obverse: Laureate head right.
Reverse: Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia.
Reference: RIC 11a.

 

Some Wiki info:     

Constantius I (Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius Augustus; 31 March c. 250 – 25 July 306), posthumously known after the sixth century as Constantius Chlorus (literally "Constantius the Green"), was a Roman Emperor. He ruled as Caesar from 293 to 305 and as Augustus from 305 to 306. He was the junior colleague of the Augustus Maximian under the Tetrarchy and succeeded him as senior co-emperor of the western part of the empire. Constantius ruled the West while Galerius was Augustus in the East. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty.

As Caesar, a junior emperor appointed by Diocletian, he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the Alamanni and Franks. Upon becoming Augustus in May 305, Constantius launched a successful punitive campaign against the Picts beyond the Antonine Wall. However, Constantius died suddenly at Eboracum (York) in July the following year.

Constantius's death and the acclamation of his son as Augustus by his army in 306 sparked civil wars ending in the collapse of the tetrarchic system of government inaugurated in 293 by Diocletian and the eventual resumption of dynastic rule over the whole empire by Constantine and his sons after the defeat of his co-emperor Licinius in 325.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Constantivs

[ewomack]

Welcome the world of ancients. I'm fairly new to the world myself, but it's growing on me to the point that I may just start selling my moderns. One of my first ancients was also a Constantius II, though a rougher one. I liked the reverse and the price was right.

Cyzicus RIC VII 69 Constantius II AE3. 330-334 AD. FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / GLORIA EXERCITVS, two soldiers, helmeted, standing with spears & shields, facing two standards between them, dot on banners. Mintmark SMKΓ dot.

[Roman Collector]

Many of my Constantius II coins came from uncleaned lots and they look it. This one is my most photogenic:

Constantius II, AD 337-361.
Roman Æ 3 (1/4 maiorina?), 2.36 g, 18.7 mm, 11 h.
Siscia, AD 348-49, fifth officina.
Obv: D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Phoenix, nimbate, standing right on mound of rocks; ЄSIS(symbol 5) in exergue.
Refs: RIC viii p. 366, 240; LRBC II 1133; RCV 18250; Cohen 58.

 

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

My first identifiable coin was a crappy Treb. Gallus Antioch Ant.  I did collect some Constantius II when starting out.  Welcome to the ancients side. May your journey be a happy one.

Now you'll have to figure out what ancient genre really makes you happy.

 

[Qcumbor]

Welcome to the darkside @Paddy54, now, you'll never look back.....

Constantius II has some really enjoyable coins to look for

Constantius II, Siliqua - Sirmium mint
D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, Diademed bust of Constantius right
VOTIS / XXX / MVLTIS / XXXX, in a wreath. SIRM at exergue.
2.07 gr
Ref : Cohen #342, RC #3997

 

Constantius II, AE2 - Antioch mint, 1st officina
D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, draped and pearl diademed bust right
FEL TEMP RE PARATIO, fallen horseman, Gamma in field, ANA at exergue
4.88 gr
Ref : RCV # 18171, Cohen # 46, RIC # 132, LRBC # 2623

 

Constantius II, AE3-4 - Antioch mint

D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, diademed head right
VOT/XX/MVLT/XXX, within a laurel wreath. At exergue SMANTI
1.70 gr
Ref : Cohen # 335, LRBC # 1398 var,

 

Q

[Ursus]

Welcome to collecting ancient coins! It's a wonderful hobby.

 

My first ancient was this shabby LRB of Constantius II's father, Constantine the Great. It is much less attractive than your first ancient coin:

Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 321 AD, Rome mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS AVG, head of Constantine I, laureate, r. Rev: D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG; VOT/XX within a laurel wreath; in exergue, RP. 20mm, 2.74g. Ref: RIC VII Rome 232.

[dougsmit]

I believe the exergual legend is SMN followed by a letter indicating the workshop which is a bit hard to guess here.   SM stands for Sacra Moneta (Sacred money) suggesting that counterfeiting would be an offence to God or at least a bad idea.  N is for the city of Nicomedia where the mint was located.  The last letter, mostly missing here, would identify which of the then in operation workshops or officinae made the coin.  I post below a completely different coin (much later) with SMNA showing the Greek numeral/letter A=1 for the first officina.  At your stage of the hobby, this letter is not important but there are specialists who take great interest in such things as workshop ID.  Now there will be people who say I am misreading the A here and should have said it was delta for shop four.  I see the central crossbar which is v shaped on this issue and large serifs that meet in the middle.  No one told the Romans that they had to use the same 'font' every time they cut legends so it is part of the hobby to learn what they might have been thinking.  Notice that this coin has some letters M that tend to look a bit squished into something we might read as N.  It is a handwriting thing. 

 

I don't have a coin matching yours but there are thousands of coins of Constantius II and I do not specialize in them.   You might find interest in the silver siliqua of Constantius from the Thessalonica mint (TES) that tells us that Constantius did last long enough to redeem those 30 year vows mentioned on your coin and go for 40.  Compare it to the one from Sirmium posted by Q.  Note that each mint not only had different mintmark letters but a completely different style interpreting the basic design as dictated by the powers above.  Ancient collectors prefer this to the modern system where only the mintmark tells where the coin was made.  

 

When anyone gets a 'first' coin, there is the obvious question of what will be next.  You may not know and that is perfectly normal.  There are more choices than most of us can imagine.  Some are extremely rare with only one known example and very few people who know or care about them.  Some are very common and exist by the millions (maybe literally) with more being dug up every day somewhere that had coins circulating in their day.  Some of these common ones are well known and popular (therefore cost more than the rare ones).  Some are beautiful, interesting, historical or some combination of those things.  So, the question with a million right answers: "What's next?"

[Paddy54]

Once again thank you all for your post and help being a newbie to the dark side...hopefully I can return the favour helping ,or teaching you about my specialties. My mail box is always open for business. If I cannot answer perhasp together we can be enlighten together. They say home is where the ♡ is...theres no doupt that this forum makes one feel at home. I hope my posts give you all some new knowledge that you'll appreciate and share along the way.

Thanks Again....BTW I still want an Owl...and a couple others specimens. Can anyone share the winning power ball numbers? 🙂