51 Gallery
June 2017 Auction 9 Jun 2017
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EMPIRE, GOLD SOLIDUS OF LICINIUS II, Nicomedia, ca. AD 321, 5.301g, 12h. Calico 5151b. Rare bust variety. Lightly toned with underlying luster. Perfectly centered and struck on a full flan. An issue of great fascination with a fantastic facing portrait. Virtually as struck. Gemini 2013 (10) lot 587
Licinius II was 4 when his father made him Caesar, 8 when he celebrated his quinquennalia, 11 when he was deposed and 13 when Constantine had him executed. Struck to honor his quinquennalia, this coin shows him with a facing portrait just like his father's, and represents an impressive attempt to capture the spirit of the emperor as an individual, not merely as a universal being. The style is a clear forerunner of all the Byzantine facing portraits, whether of Christ or the Saints, or of the emperors and their family.
Licinius II was 4 when his father made him Caesar, 8 when he celebrated his quinquennalia, 11 when he was deposed and 13 when Constantine had him executed. Struck to honor his quinquennalia, this coin shows him with a facing portrait just like his father's, and represents an impressive attempt to capture the spirit of the emperor as an individual, not merely as a universal being. The style is a clear forerunner of all the Byzantine facing portraits, whether of Christ or the Saints, or of the emperors and their family.