RIC VII, TRIER [before 586], CONSTANS, UNLISTED ISSUE (UNOFFICIAL?)

OBVERSE	CONSTANSIVNNOBC [CONSTANS IVN NOB C]; bust r., laur., dr., cuir.
REVERSE	GLOR-IAEXER-CITVS [GLORIA EXERCITVS]; two soldiers stg. facing one another, holding spear in outer hand, inner hand resting on shield set on ground; between them two standards. TRS in exergue.
NOT IN RIC	UNLISTED ISSUE. Very rare obverse legend CONSTANS IVN NOB C is known only for one issue from Heraclea mint [HERACLEA 139; SMHA star in exergue; three officinae: A, B, G - all rated r5]. The reverse is the same: two soldiers and two standards. General note from p. 31: "CONSTANS IVN NOB C at Heraclea is merely a curious contamination at an early stage". LRBC describes bust on HERACLEA 139 as "bust laur., cuir., in paludamentum" and here we have exactly the same type: Constans has a cuirass and paludamentum. However, this specimen is undoubtedly from Trier, second officina. It was minted probably at the same time when Heraclean issue, i.e. 333-336 AD (see dating on p. 559). Smaller diameter (about 14 mm) suggests that it happened probably at the end of this period, after 335 AD, when follis shrank significantly from 17 mm to 15 mm. And in fact there is known rare Trier GLORIA EXERCITUS issue from year 335 with TRP in exergue [TRIER 586-589, officinae P and S], but with later reverse type: one standard instead of two. We can only speculate that this issue was preceded by the one with two standards and actual coin is the only evidence of its existence. On the other hand, rather crude style proves that it could be a "barbaric imitation" (i.e. unofficial issue).

NOTES

Coin sold on Allegro in May 2005 for c. $20.