Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Constantine I AV Solidus. Ticinum, AD 324. CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate bust right / VICTORIB AVGG ET CAESS NN, Victory seated right on cuirass and shield, holding shield inscribed VOT XX, trophy and captive before; SMT in exergue. RIC 110; Depeyrot 17/12. 4.44g, 19mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently the third and finest known specimen, the only one in private hands.
This type, known only from one example in Leningrad and a rather sad example acquired by the BM in 1981, was curiously dated by RIC to AD 320/1, despite the obvious vicennalia celebrated on the reverse, and the corresponding issues of Sirmium, Nicomedia and Cyzicus being dated all to 324.
Struck in anticipation of Constantine's vicennalia which would begin the following year on 26 July 325, this coin proudly advertises the military victories of Constantine and his sons Crispus and Constantine Caesar, and the shield held by Victory announces the coming vicennalia. The emperors had much to celebrate; the preceding four years had seen a string of dazzling victories. In 320 Crispus had led a victorious campaign against the Franks, bringing twenty years of peace to the Rhine frontier. The following year Constantine had expelled the Goths from the Danube frontier and led an expedition into the old province of Dacia, either repairing Trajan's bridge or erecting a wholly new one in the process. In 323, taking with him his seven year old son and namesake, Constantine defeated an invasion of Goths and Sarmatians north of the Danube in Dacia, and claimed the title of Sarmaticus Maximus. Then in mid-324 renewed conflict with Licinius saw Constantine win a great victory at the Battle of Adrianople, and ultimately claim sole rule of the empire by year's end.
Yet despite the auspicious lead-up to Constantine's vicennalia, the year's celebrations would end in great bitterness. The climax of the vicennial year celebrations was to be in Rome in July 326, but while en route to Rome Constantine gave the order for the execution of his eldest son Crispus, supposedly on charge of attempted rape of Constantine's wife Fausta. Zosimus in the fifth century and Joannes Zonaras in the twelfth century both reported that Fausta, jealous of Crispus, and ambitious for the succession of her own sons, brought this untrue accusation against Crispus. Constantine, believing her, and true to his strong personality and short temper, executed his beloved son. A short while later, discovering the truth, Constantine had Fausta killed by suffocation and ordered a damnation memoriae with the result that no contemporary sources record the specific details of her fate.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently the third and finest known specimen, the only one in private hands.
This type, known only from one example in Leningrad and a rather sad example acquired by the BM in 1981, was curiously dated by RIC to AD 320/1, despite the obvious vicennalia celebrated on the reverse, and the corresponding issues of Sirmium, Nicomedia and Cyzicus being dated all to 324.
Struck in anticipation of Constantine's vicennalia which would begin the following year on 26 July 325, this coin proudly advertises the military victories of Constantine and his sons Crispus and Constantine Caesar, and the shield held by Victory announces the coming vicennalia. The emperors had much to celebrate; the preceding four years had seen a string of dazzling victories. In 320 Crispus had led a victorious campaign against the Franks, bringing twenty years of peace to the Rhine frontier. The following year Constantine had expelled the Goths from the Danube frontier and led an expedition into the old province of Dacia, either repairing Trajan's bridge or erecting a wholly new one in the process. In 323, taking with him his seven year old son and namesake, Constantine defeated an invasion of Goths and Sarmatians north of the Danube in Dacia, and claimed the title of Sarmaticus Maximus. Then in mid-324 renewed conflict with Licinius saw Constantine win a great victory at the Battle of Adrianople, and ultimately claim sole rule of the empire by year's end.
Yet despite the auspicious lead-up to Constantine's vicennalia, the year's celebrations would end in great bitterness. The climax of the vicennial year celebrations was to be in Rome in July 326, but while en route to Rome Constantine gave the order for the execution of his eldest son Crispus, supposedly on charge of attempted rape of Constantine's wife Fausta. Zosimus in the fifth century and Joannes Zonaras in the twelfth century both reported that Fausta, jealous of Crispus, and ambitious for the succession of her own sons, brought this untrue accusation against Crispus. Constantine, believing her, and true to his strong personality and short temper, executed his beloved son. A short while later, discovering the truth, Constantine had Fausta killed by suffocation and ordered a damnation memoriae with the result that no contemporary sources record the specific details of her fate.