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4th century Roman coin discovered

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4th century Roman coin discovered

 

No real indication how valuable of a find this is. Would anyone have a guess?

 

A ROMAN coin dating from the fourth century has been discovered at a nature reserve in Snape.

 

The historic coin was found by a local archaeologist earlier this year at RSPB Abbey Farm and is believed to date from 347 AD, during the reign of Constantius II and his brother Constans.

 

Constans visited Britain in 343, probably to repel the Scots or Picts, after becoming joint emperor of Rome with his brother.

 

heathm20090916111506.jpg

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I have a coin very similar to this, it's the spikes on the crown that stand out.

 

I beleive that these imperial images are a common feature of the later Roman coinage and normally described as 'radiate crown'.

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4th century Roman coin discovered

 

No real indication how valuable of a find this is. Would anyone have a guess?

 

A ROMAN coin dating from the fourth century has been discovered at a nature reserve in Snape.

 

The historic coin was found by a local archaeologist earlier this year at RSPB Abbey Farm and is believed to date from 347 AD, during the reign of Constantius II and his brother Constans.

 

Constans visited Britain in 343, probably to repel the Scots or Picts, after becoming joint emperor of Rome with his brother.

 

heathm20090916111506.jpg

I have a coin very similar to this, it's the spikes on the crown that stand out.

 

I beleive that these imperial images are a common feature of the later Roman coinage and normally described as 'radiate crown'.

 

That's a nice observation, because based on Doug Smith's site (linked by UNRV member Guy) and similar sites, it seems the "radiate" (or "radiant") crown was a typical pagan symbol (of the Sun God), characteristic from an earlier period and usually used in Roman minting for some particular denominations, especially the Antonianus.

 

I have still not found radiates in the issues of either Constans or Constantius II, who were both utterly Christian; besides, the image in the coin posted above seems to carry beard; all images I have been able to check out from both emperors are unbearded.

 

On the other hand, in 2006 a large hoard of cooper-alley Roman coins with bearded radiated images attributed to the Roman ususrpers Carausius and Allectus was found in the area of Suffolk too, reportedly including 347 coins from Allectus.

Just a coincidence, or a possible typo from the Evening Star team?

Edited by sylla

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On the other hand, in 2006 a large hoard of cooper-alley Roman coins with bearded radiated images attributed to the Roman ususrpers Carausius and Allectus was found in the area of Suffolk too, reportedly including 347 coins from Allectus.

Just a coincidence, or a possible typo from the Evening Star team?

 

Great observation ;). I don't know much about coins of any type, but I do know that a Christianized Roman Emperor would not be typically portrayed with a radiate ("spiky") crown that is closely associated with the sun-god Sol.

 

Here are some images of the coins from the emperor Constans:

 

 

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?searc...p;view_mode=1#0

 

 

 

The coin image depicted (the radiate crown and the beard) is more typical of a military Emperor from the third century, a century before Constans.

 

Perhaps this coin was carried by someone from the fourth century, but depicted an Emperor from the century before. Coins in Ancient Rome were known to circulate for many years after they were initially produced.

 

 

guy also known as gaius

Edited by guy

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guy said:
The coin image depicted (the radiate crown and the beard) is more typical of a military Emperor from the third century, a century before Constans.

 

 

guy also known as gaius

 

That said, there are infrequent examples of Constantine I with a radiate crown:

 

post-3665-0-29012600-1334626772_thumb.jpg

 

 

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?searc...p;view_mode=1#6

 

 

And always one to hedge his bets, Constantine did have the image of the sun-god Sol regularly on the reverse of his coins.

 

 

280240.m.jpg

 

http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=135075

 

 

Edited by guy

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The coin image depicted (the radiate crown and the beard) is more typical of a military Emperor from the third century, a century before Constans.

 

 

guy also known as gaius

 

That said, there are infrequent examples of Constantine I with a radiate crown:

 

 

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?searc...p;view_mode=1#6

 

 

And always one to hedge his bets, Constantine did have the image of the sun-god Sol regularly on the reverse of his coins.

 

 

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?searc...p;view_mode=1#8

 

 

 

guy also known as guy

Constantine the Great was in fact rather eclectic in religious issues, and few of his surviving coins (arguably like 1%) show possible Christian symbolism.

 

The most common divinities in Constatine coins were allegoric femenine figures, especially Victory; Pax and Libertas were also common.

 

The Goddess Roma appeared too, and also Hercules and even Jupiter; and of course, Sol.

 

Even more; Constantine himself was posthumously deified in coins by his sons.

Edited by sylla

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