Constantine I fractional from Trier...ex Failmezger

[Victor]

this little coin is not much to look at, but I like Failmezger's Roman Bronze Coins and this is one of the plate coins.


Constantine I
A.D. 310- 311
Quarter follis
12x13mm    0.9g
IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; laureate and cuirassed bust right.
VOT X MVL XX surrounded by wreath.
RIC VI Trier 908a; Zschucke 11.10

Ex-Failmezger 221CI

[Heliodromus]

I have a few ex.Failmezgers too, including this one which was also a plate coin.

"Roman Bronze Coins" was the first coin book I bought when I started collecting. I have a signed note from Tory together with it, that I think I got when requesting the companion CD.

What I like about RBC is that it links at least some of the coins to the history, and treats the coinage more as a unified whole rather than just mint-by-mint.

The book has some peculiar shortcomings too, given that it has such as specific focus. Constantine's Sol coinage, dominating 1/3 of his rule, and who's disappearance gives way to the Christian themes that RBC's title refers to, are nonetheless lumped in with Daia's Sol coinage as an undifferentiated whole!

Still, a great introduction to Constantine's coins I think. I would consult it multiple times a day for months when I first got it.

[Victor]

I have another plate coin, the Helena below. I don't like the book because it is a great scholarly work, which it never tries to be, but rather because it is a work by a passionate collector who obviously took delight in his coins. I also have a signed copy and talked to Tory several times in the past and he was gracious enough to invite me to his new house in SC which he had customized with a Roman style entrance way with some mosaics. I did not burden him with a visit though.

[Heliodromus]

Very nice!

It seems he was a very nice guy. I like the sound of his roman mosaic entrance!

Another book where the passion comes across is "Roman Coins; And How To Collect Them" by John Fox. It's a book about the process of acquiring and collecting (on a small budget) as much as it is about he coins themselves, with plenty of personal anecdotes. It was written in 1983 in the pre-eBay era!

[Victor]

I just got two more Failmezger plate coins,

 

Constantius II
A.D. 337-340
17mm   1.5g
D N FL CONST-ANTIVS AVG; rosette diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
SECVRITAS REI P; Securitas standing facing, legs crossed, head turned right, holding sceptre in right hand, left elbow leaning on column.
In ex. R❦P
RIC VIII Rome 15

Ex Rath March 1989
ex-Failmezger plate #386CS



 

Though this coin was listed as official, I am sure that it is unofficial; given the lower weight and smaller flan coupled with the reverse spelling error (I'm not sure that the obverse is right either) and some slight style differences.


Magnentius
Circa A.D. 350- 353
19mm    3.2g
DN MAGNENTIVS P F AVG; bare-headed, draped and cuirassed, A behind bust.
GLORIA ROMANORV; Magnentius on horseback spearing barbarian.
In ex. RPLG
Cf. RIC VIII Lyons 115

Ex-Failmezger plate #452MG

Unofficial issue