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Harlan J. Berk Ltd.
Buy or Bid Sale 220  4 Aug 2022
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Lot 12

Estimate: 27 500 USD
Lot unsold
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Constantine I. Aureus; Constantine I; 307-337 AD, Aquileia, 319 AD, Aureus, 4.51g. Depeyrot-p. 93, 9/2 (4 spec.), RIC-28 (1 spec.). Obv: CONSTANTI - NVS P F AVG Head laureate r. Rx: FELIX PROCESSVS COS IIIII (sic, instead of V) AVG N Togate emperor standing l. holding globe and scepter, AQ in exergue. Ex Berk 104, 16 September 1998, lot 11. The consular number IIIII instead of V is extraordinary and apparently unparalleled on coins; the indexes of RIC VI-X, in any case, reveal nothing similar on the Roman coinage of 294-491 AD. Surviving inscriptions on stone, however, "show a preference for the additive method "of numeration, 1.e. IIII instead of IV, "and this preference is occasionally carried to the extent of ignoring the signs V and L (so IIIIIIviri often for VIviri and such forms as XXXXXX for LX", similar to COS IIIII for V on our coin. See The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd. edition, p. 742.. Mint State
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