Watch List notes:

Auction 88 Part I
The Roman Empire
Constantius II caesar, 324 – 337

Medallion of 3 solidi, Nicomedia circa 326-327, AV 13.50 g. FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. FELICIA TEMPORA Two Genii standing facing each other and holding a garland between them. C –. Gnecchi –. Alföldi –. RIC –. Depeyrot –.
Apparently unique and unrecorded. A spectacular medallion with a lovely portrait
and a spectacular reverse composition work of a very skilled master
engraver. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc

Ex Rauch sale 72, 2003, 840.

This exceptional 3-solidus medallion of Constantius II bears a most charming reverse inscribed FELICIA TEMPORA and depicting two Genii holding a garland – a combination of inscription and design that otherwise appears to be undocumented. Seemingly every other time this inscription had been used on a Roman coin or medallion it was with the familiar type of the four seasons as boys at play. And with the exception of the present medallion, perhaps the only other times the two-Genii type was used was on Constantinian-era gold medallions inscribed GAVDIVM AVGVSTI NOSTRI or VOTIS DECENN D N CONSTANTINI CAES.

Assigning a date to this medallion is problematic. The fact that two Genii are shown might indicate that just two Caesars were serving under Constantine at the time of its issue, with one of them, by default, being Constantius II. If so, that would restrict its period of issue from late 326 through the end of 333. Sutherland and Carson record this combination of obverse inscription and mintmark only for the period late 324 through 327. Given the political circumstances of that era, the period of late 326 or 327 would be suitable for this medallion, and, in fact, there was a rather substantial issue of festaurei and medallions at Nicomedia in 327. In that same window of time we find a parallel to a 3-solidus medallion of Thessalonica (RIC 165) for the Caesar Constantine II which pairs this reverse type with the decennalian inscription VOTIS DECENN D N CONSTANTINI CAES. Sutherland and Carson date that piece to 327 and M. Alfoldi to 326.

Another option, perhaps less attractive, is that this medallion belongs to a later period, after c.330. It must be noted, however, that except for the present medallion and the Thessalonica medallion of Constantine II, every other time this reverse type appeared it was used with the inscription GAVDIVM AVGVSTI NOSTRI and was issued in the name of Constantine I: the documented examples include a 2-solidus of 330 from Nicomedia (RIC 161) and 3-solidus medallions of 333 and 335/6 from Constantinople (RIC 64 and 87, with the latter being dated to 326 by M. Alfoldi).