Valens the Usurper

CNG 112, Lot: 659. Estimate $7500. Sold for $20000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Valens. Usurper, AD 316-317. Æ Follis (22mm, 3.49 g, 12h). Alexandria mint, 2nd officina. IMP C AVR VAL VALENS P F AVG, laureate head right / IOVI CONSE RVATORI AVG, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe and scepter; to left, eagle standing right, holding wreath in its beak; K|(wreath)/X/B//ALE. RIC VII 19 var. (officina); M&M AG 92, lot 302 = M&M AG 86, 207 (same dies). Brown patina, light roughness. VF. Extremely rare.

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.