I finally got my Leu invoice and paid for this...surely my coin of the year! It's a unique coin from Constantinople and it copies a denarius of Trajan, including the slight drapery. It is the second time that a Trajan coin was copied in bronze. The first time was in A.D. 312 with the S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI Legionary eagle with wings spread, between two vexilla. It's dated to after 330 based on the hairstyle; which started getting longer with the DAFNE types. It most resembles the one standard GLORIA EXERCITVS haircuts, but its weight is more in line with the DAFNE issues--perhaps it was a special issue to commemorate the founding of Constantinopolis in A.D. 330. The second coin below is the Trajan denarius that this coin copies. I have to wonder how many people would have even knew this coin was modeled on Trajan some 200 hundred years later; but given the rarity, this coin was most likely not intended for general circulation. The third picture is this coin in 2017 before it was cleaned.
Constantine I
A.D. 330-337
20mm 3.1g
CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG; Rosette-diademed head right, with slight drapery on left shoulder.
S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI; Victory standing front, head to left, holding wreath in her right hand and palm frond in her left.
In ex. CONSA
RIC VII Constantinople –
