Constantius II
12/1/2023 link back up to main Chapter 262 Coins
Constantian Dynasty
The coins in my coin collection are mentioned in this video of The World's Most Expensive Ancient Coin. Well worth watching as he praises my Constantius and my Alexander the Great examples. At $6 million the above example is quite interesting. I hadn't known about this until I pulled out one of my unresearched coins and identified it this week as a Constantius II.
The head is of a Greek mythologic creature the wild Satyr fertility symbol and the tails is of a Griffin another mythologic half eagle half lion that protected gold and valuables.
My bronze Constantius II is from 353 AD, and almost gold like . After the death of his father Constantine the Great, was emperor of the western part of the Roman Empire from 337 to 361 AD. DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG lettering on obverse is for Dominus Noster (Our Lord) PF is Pius Felix (dutiful and wise) AVG (Augustus = emperor, majestic, venerable). Coin is minted in Alexandria, Egypt (ALEX noted on obverse lower ). M in left field might indicate 1000 coins needed to equal one gold soldus.
Identifying a Roman Coin is a puzzle. The outstanding feature of my coin was the fallen horseman on the reverse side. A Roman Warrior is spearing an enemy soldier who down on his fallen horse. A good reference to this scene is here from a coin website.
It is an intriguing image. It might not be acceptable in today's politically correct society but the Romans lived in a brutal time period. Constantius II's Battle of Mursa was one of the most brutal of the Roman Empire where 50,000 soldiers from both sides combined were killed. Constantine himself had his wife Fausta and first son Crispus killed for questionable circumstances (maybe adultry).
Another good source to identify the hundreds of mint marks is here from another coin web site (for as long as their web links don't change (constantly).
But it gets confusing when his Constantinian Dynasty has numerous similar names, all Augustas or Emperors, Imperors, or Ceasers.
An example for sale $250.
An example for sale $250.