Extremely Rare Constans II

CNG 94, Lot: 1116. Estimate $20000. Sold for $13000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constans II. AD 409/10-411. AR Siliqua (16mm, 1.34 g, 6h). Arelate (Arles) mint. D N CONSTA NS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VICTORI A AAVCC, Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on globe and reverted spear; KONT. RIC X 1540; Ferrando 1711 (rev. only illustrated; same die); King, Fifth –; RSC 1a. Good VF, darkly toned, obverse double struck, reverse triple struck. Extremely rare.

From the Ronald J. Hansen Collection. Ex Künker 193 (26 September 2011), lot 1041.

Kent noted a total of six examples of Arelate mint siliquas of Constans II – five with the rosette-and-laurel diadem (St. Petersburg, Trier, Vienna, Albuquerque 34 [23 April 1992], 199, and Tkalec [26 March 1991], 520) – and only one with the pearl-diadem (Paris). Ferrando, who did not distinguish the diadem varieties in his catalog, also listed six examples – all of them in public collections – at least one of which is in Arles. To date, only one example of the pearl-diadem variety has appeared at auction – when our coin was sold by Künker in 2011.