Heretofore Unknown Issue

CNG 87, Lot: 1163. Estimate $10000. Sold for $30000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine II. As Caesar, AD 316-337. AV Aureus (21mm, 5.27 g, 11h). Fifth consulship and decennalia issue for Licinius I. Antioch mint. Struck AD 317/8. D N FL CL CONSTANTINVS NOB C, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / IOVIO CONSER VATORI CAESS, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe and scepter; to left at feet, eagle standing left, head right, with wings folded, holding wreath in beak; -*/(upturned crescent)//ANT. Cf. RIC VII 21; cf. 35/2; Depeyrot ; cf. Calicó 5154 (all refs for Licinius II); otherwise unpublished. Good VF, areas of underlying luster. Possibly unique.

The defeat of Licinius I at the Battle of Campus Mardiensis and the resulting peace conference held at Serdica in March AD 317 made Constantine I the de facto senior emperor of the the two, and temporarily postponed the final showdown between them. Under the terms of the peace, in addition to Licinius I holding a senior consulship in AD 318 and Constantine I in AD 319, the eldest sons of Constantine I, Crispus and Constantine II, along with Licinius II, the son of Licinius I, were appointed Caesars; Crispus would be co-consul with Licinius I and Licinius II would be co-consul with Constantine I. In the eastern provinces, which Licinius I continued to control, and especially at Antioch, a series of solidi was struck to commemorate these events. According to Bruun, this issue is dated to AD 317-19 and connected by the presence of a star-over-crescent in some way as part of the mintmark. Consular solidi were struck at Antioch for both Licinius I and Constantine I. The only known solidus struck for a Caesar in this series, however, is for Licinius II. It is unusual because no solidus is known for the other Caesars and the plural CAESS in the reverse legend would suggest the coins for them would have been struck. Even though the Antioch mint was under the control of Licinius I, it struck consular solidi for Constantine I in AD 319, and one should expect to find solidi being struck for Crispus and Constantine II as well as for Licinius II, especially as bronzes issues were being struck for all three during this same period. Accordingly, the existence of this previously unknown issue would have been expected.