Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature Sale 3042 17-18 Sep 2015
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Theodosius I (AD 379-395), with Arcadius and Honorius. Æ exagium or solidus weight (20mm, 3.59 gm, 12h). Constantinople, AD 393-395. DDD NNN GGG, pearl-diademed and draped facing busts of Honorius, Theodosius, and Arcadius / EXAGIVM SOLIDI, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopia. RIC X, p. 8. Cf. Bendall, Weights 10 (different rev. inscription). Green patina with light earthen fields. Good Very Fine. Official solidus weights, based on the standard solidus weight of 1/72nd of an imperial pound (approximately 4.5 grams), were created by an edict issued by the Emperor Julian II n AD 363 in order to eliminate the practice of clipping. During the joint reigns of Theodosius I the Great and his two sons, manufacture of exagia increased dramatically, perhaps indicating that clipping had become epidemic. However, extant examples of these weights vary and some examples, including this one, weigh much less than a full-weight solidus. Some of the difference can probably attributed to changes in metal composition due to oxidation and other processes over the centuries; however, the lighter exagia might also represent the lowest acceptable weight for solidi in order for them to circulate at full value.
Estimate: 1000-1400 USD
Theodosius I (AD 379-395), with Arcadius and Honorius. Æ exagium or solidus weight (20mm, 3.59 gm, 12h). Constantinople, AD 393-395. DDD NNN GGG, pearl-diademed and draped facing busts of Honorius, Theodosius, and Arcadius / EXAGIVM SOLIDI, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopia. RIC X, p. 8. Cf. Bendall, Weights 10 (different rev. inscription). Green patina with light earthen fields. Good Very Fine. Official solidus weights, based on the standard solidus weight of 1/72nd of an imperial pound (approximately 4.5 grams), were created by an edict issued by the Emperor Julian II n AD 363 in order to eliminate the practice of clipping. During the joint reigns of Theodosius I the Great and his two sons, manufacture of exagia increased dramatically, perhaps indicating that clipping had become epidemic. However, extant examples of these weights vary and some examples, including this one, weigh much less than a full-weight solidus. Some of the difference can probably attributed to changes in metal composition due to oxidation and other processes over the centuries; however, the lighter exagia might also represent the lowest acceptable weight for solidi in order for them to circulate at full value.
Estimate: 1000-1400 USD