Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 111 29 May 2019
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Constantius II. AD 337-361. AV Semissis (16mm, 2.21 g, 1h). Constantinople mint. Struck AD 355-361. CONSTAN TIVS AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA AVGVSTI, Victory seated right on cuirass, grounded shield behind; on her knee she supports a shield inscribed VOT/ XXXX in two lines; to right, a small winged Genius supports the shield with both hands; CONS. Triton XX, lot 878 corr. (references and rarity); otherwise unpublished. Good VF, hairline flan crack. Extremely rare, apparently the second known.
Weighing in at 2.21 grams, this piece is clearly a half-solidus or semissis, which stood in rather awkward relation to another gold fraction, the 1.5 scripulum or 9-siliqua piece, typically weighing about 1.6 grams. Constantius II seems to have struck the semissis infrequently and none are recorded in RIC or other reference works for Constantinople.
Weighing in at 2.21 grams, this piece is clearly a half-solidus or semissis, which stood in rather awkward relation to another gold fraction, the 1.5 scripulum or 9-siliqua piece, typically weighing about 1.6 grams. Constantius II seems to have struck the semissis infrequently and none are recorded in RIC or other reference works for Constantinople.