Valens, Usurper

CNG 96, Lot: 871. Estimate $10000. Sold for $13000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Valens. Usurper, AD 316-317. Æ Follis (23mm, 4.15 g, 11h). Cyzicus mint, 6th officina. IMP C AVR VAL VALENS P F AVG, laureate head right / IOVI CONS ERVATORI, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe and scepter; to left, eagle standing left, holding wreath in beak; VI//SKM. RIC VII 7; R.A.G. Carson, “The Geneva Forgeries” in NC 1958, p. 57 and pl. VI, b (authentic issue in Berlin, from same dies). Good VF, brown patina, minor double strike on reverse, traces of silvering.

After Licinius was defeated by Constantine in AD 316 at the battle of Cibalae (in present-day Croatia) Licinius elevated Valens, one of his generals who had been responsible for the Dacian frontier, to the position of Augustus. This enraged Constantine with the result that after he established a peace treaty with Licinius, in which three of their sons became Caesar, Valens was not only deposed but executed on the orders of Licinius. Valens’ coinage, which was not very abundant to begin with (it is only known from the mints of Cyzicus and Alexandria), was recalled and melted down after his deposition, thus explaining its great rarity today.