Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 1044. Estimate $20000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $40000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LICINIUS I. 308-324 AD. Medallic silver bowl of one Roman pound (330 gm; diameter 20.0 cm). Ephesus ‘mint.’ Made after 1 March 322 AD. Silver bowl with simple curved profile. In the center is a struck medallion within a lathe-cut circle: LICINIVS AVG OB D V LICINI FILI SVI, bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed facing bust of Licinius I. On the outside of the bowl, near the rim, is a small round stamp: EUG/EFE/MEB in three lines. Three medallic bowls of the same issue (one of Licinius I, with design and legend identical to the present piece, and two of Licinius II) were in the ‘Munich’ Treasure: J.P.C. Kent and K.S. Painter, Wealth of the Roman World AD 300-700 (British Museum 1977), pp. 20ff., nos. 1-3; B. Overbeck, Argentum Romanum: ein Schatzfund von spätrömischen Prunkgeschirr (Munich 1973), pp. 23, 29. Complete, bent and cracked, with remaining encrustation from the bronze folles that were secreted within.

Lot also includes: a partial hoard of 85 folles found with the bowl (see the next lot for the remaining 915 coins from the hoard). All coins are "Campgate" reverse types issued from the mint of Heraclea, struck in the names of Licinius I, Licinius II, Constantine I, Constantine II, and Crispus. The coins are uncleaned, some with heavy encrustation, but most appear to have minimal, if any, wear, and a number exhibit well-silvered surfaces under the encrustation. (See the next lot for further information on this hoard.)

Lot includes medallic silver bowl and eighty-five (85) Folles. ($20,000)

The medallion legend, LICINIVS AVG(ustus) OB D(iem) V (=quinquennalium) LICINI(i) FILI(i) SVI (Licinius Augustus on the anniversary of his son Licinius’ five years' rule), securely dates the bowl's construction to the time of that celebration, occurring on 1 March 322.

The small round outside stamp is similar to those on the three bowls in the ‘Munich’ Treasure which are stamped as follows: NIKO/AID/A, NIKO/EUT/NEB, and ANT/EUSTO/A. The first line here, EUG, probably names the responsible official, perhaps Eugenes. The second line, EFE, must indicate Ephesus as the city of issue. This is notable, because Ephesus ­ unlike the cities Nicomedia and Antioch named on the Munich bowls ­ was not an imperial mint. The third line, MEB, is problematic, but it may be parallel to the equally uncertain line NEB on one of the Munich bowls, which Painter proposed to expand as N[OMISMATWN] E[RGASTHRION] B (Coin Workshop 2).

Like the Munich bowls, the present bowl weighs one Roman pound, a standard donative weight. The bowls now known from this issue are from three different cities and so indicate a coordinated imperial distribution in celebration of the quinquennalia of Licinius II. Gold coins were likewise issued at Nicomedia and Antioch on this occasion: RIC VII (Nicomedia) 41-42 and (Antioch) 31-33. The portraits of Licinius I and II on these medallic bowls and aurei of the same issue are revolutionary in style. They are among the first frontal representations in medallic art of the imperial portait, a style of presentation that would become the standard in the late Roman and Byzantine period.

Based on the medallion's legend, the lack of any issues for either Constantius II or Constans as Caesars among the coins (both were declared Caesars on 13 November 324 AD), and the single origin of the coins, the hoard must have been deposited no later than July 324 AD, when Constantine I took Heraclea. A protégé of the emperor Galerius, Licinius I had come to power in consequence of the Treaty of Carnuntum in 308 AD to replace Severus as Augustus in the west. Constantine, who had seen himself as rightful successor to his father Constantius I, clearly resented Licinius' appointment and viewed him as dangerous rival. Since neither was in a position to supplant the other, however, an uneasy truce was arranged in 313 AD. Constantine would control the west and Licinius the east. To seal the arrangement, Licinius married Constantine's sister, Constantia. By 316 AD, the truce was dissolved and hostilities between the two broke out. A second settlement was made at Serdica in 317 AD, in which Constantine's sons Crispus and Constantine II, and Licinius' son Licinius II were recognized as Caesars. Over the next few years, an uneasy peace was maintained, though Constantine's increasing support of the Christians exacerbated the hostility of Licinius. In 324 AD, Constantine marched eastward with his forces. Winning a decisive victory over Licinius at Hadrianople in July, Constantine moved toward the Bosporus in pursuit. There, at Chrysopolis in September, Licinius' defeat was complete and Constantine, secure as master of the Roman Empire, moved eastward to secure his newly-won territories.