59, Lot: 182. Estimate $100. Sold for $64. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CONSTANTIUS II. 337-361 AD. Æ 23mm (23mm, 4.67 gm). Siscia mint. Struck circa 351 AD. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right, A behind / Emperor standing left holding labarum with Chi-Rho and transverse sceptre, being crowned by Victory standing behind and holding palm; III/ASIS». RIC VIII 301; LRBC 1190. Near VF, dark green patina.

Because of the instability the revolts of Magnentius and Decentius created, Constantius II was compelled to accept first "legalized" usurpers, such as Nepotian and Vetranio; next, he appointed his cousin Gallus as Caesar. According to the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Gallus' own character flaws as well as Constantius' own suspicious nature, inflamed by the palace eunuchs, soon led the emperor to have Gallus "removed" as well.