Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3044 3-4 January 2016
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Theodosius I the Great (AD 379-395). AV solidus (22mm, 4.45 gm, 12h). Constantinople, 4th officina, AD 379-383. D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Theodosius right, bust viewed from front / CONCOR-DIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing on throne ornamented with lion heads, foot on prow, holding scepter in right hand and globe in left, CONOB in exergue. RIC IX 45(d)9. Depeyrot 33/3. A nearly perfect specimen, crisply struck and lustrous. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5.Theodosius I "The Great" was the last man to rule the entire Roman Empire whose reign sped the transition to the medieval world. Born in Spain in AD 346, his father, Theodosius the Elder, was a powerful general in the Roman army under the emperor Valentinian I (AD 364-375). He was made governor of Moesia in AD 375, but a period of disgrace followed the execution of his father for high treason in AD 376. Theodosius retired to his Spanish estates, but the disastrous battle of Adrianople in AD 378, in which the Goths smashed the Roman field army and killed the East Roman Emperor Valens, brought about his recall. Gratian, emperor of the West, appointed Theodosius as co-Augustus in January of 379, tasking him with restoring the shattered East Roman army and quelling the Gothic revolt. Years of arduous campaigning forced the Goths into relative submission in AD 382, but the peace treaty settled them in Thrace and allowed them a great deal of autonomy. In January of AD 383, Theodosius proclaimed his six-year-old son Arcadius as co-emperor, but in the same year Gratian was slain and replaced by the usurper Magnus Maximus. Civil war broke out in AD 388, when Maximus invaded Italy and Theodosius moved west to meet and defeat him. Theodosius remained in Italy for three more years to settle affairs and returned to Constantinople in AD 391, but the usurpation of Eugenius brought about another destructive civil war in AD 394. Again, Theodosius won the day, and remained supreme over both halves of the Empire until his premature death in January of AD 395. His incompetent sons Arcadius and Honorius succeeded him, setting the stage for the Western Empire's decline and fall.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD
Theodosius I the Great (AD 379-395). AV solidus (22mm, 4.45 gm, 12h). Constantinople, 4th officina, AD 379-383. D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Theodosius right, bust viewed from front / CONCOR-DIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing on throne ornamented with lion heads, foot on prow, holding scepter in right hand and globe in left, CONOB in exergue. RIC IX 45(d)9. Depeyrot 33/3. A nearly perfect specimen, crisply struck and lustrous. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5.Theodosius I "The Great" was the last man to rule the entire Roman Empire whose reign sped the transition to the medieval world. Born in Spain in AD 346, his father, Theodosius the Elder, was a powerful general in the Roman army under the emperor Valentinian I (AD 364-375). He was made governor of Moesia in AD 375, but a period of disgrace followed the execution of his father for high treason in AD 376. Theodosius retired to his Spanish estates, but the disastrous battle of Adrianople in AD 378, in which the Goths smashed the Roman field army and killed the East Roman Emperor Valens, brought about his recall. Gratian, emperor of the West, appointed Theodosius as co-Augustus in January of 379, tasking him with restoring the shattered East Roman army and quelling the Gothic revolt. Years of arduous campaigning forced the Goths into relative submission in AD 382, but the peace treaty settled them in Thrace and allowed them a great deal of autonomy. In January of AD 383, Theodosius proclaimed his six-year-old son Arcadius as co-emperor, but in the same year Gratian was slain and replaced by the usurper Magnus Maximus. Civil war broke out in AD 388, when Maximus invaded Italy and Theodosius moved west to meet and defeat him. Theodosius remained in Italy for three more years to settle affairs and returned to Constantinople in AD 391, but the usurpation of Eugenius brought about another destructive civil war in AD 394. Again, Theodosius won the day, and remained supreme over both halves of the Empire until his premature death in January of AD 395. His incompetent sons Arcadius and Honorius succeeded him, setting the stage for the Western Empire's decline and fall.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD