It's not pretty... Constantine I VLPP barb

[Joshmaggosh]

Hello,
I have this barbarous Constantine I VLPP. It's certainly not pretty... and maybe not that interesting (to others, I still like it) as the legends are unreadable and the bust is plain with no fancy helmet.

I know Victor is interested in these and has an excellent page covering 4th century barbarous coinage. I was hoping to post here and get any opinions on eastern vs. western origin of this imitation (maybe what mint this is imitating) and any other insights someone who has examined hundreds of these may have.

All I know is the type this is imitating... and consequently, it was made sometime after 313AD. Is there anything else I can add to my records about this particular coin?

16x17mm
2.17g

Thank you!

Josh

[Victor]

Your coin has a laureate head, so it is probably not copying Constantine I. He is always depicted with a helmet except for one instance. The only VLPP issue that has Constantine with only a laureate head is a rare issue from Arles; a city which also struck the same bust type for the other rulers. Having said that though, having the wrong bust type does not necessarily mean that the engraver was not copying Constantine I, since these unofficial coins often stray quite a bit from official products.

Unofficial Arles VLPP's are not frequently encountered either. In fact, the overwhelming majority of these are Siscia imitations. It is most likely a Siscia copy and it looks like there might be a retrograde S in the exergue. Plus Siscia had several issues only for Licinius I with laureate head.


the first coin below is a Constantine from Arles and second is a Licinius from Siscia

[seuk]

The non-helmet VLPP imitations are fairly uncommon. I got the same obverse with a different reverse.

[Victor]

The non-helmet VLPP imitations are fairly uncommon. I got the same obverse with a different reverse.

your obverse looks like it is a laureate, draped and cuirassed bust while Josh's coin is just a laureate head.