Revolt of Poemenius

[seth]

I have just bought this coin from our host on this forum.


POEMENIUS in the name of CONSTANTIUS II AE1/2 23mm 7g Double Maiorina(?)

AV: DN CONSTANTIVS P F AVG; rosette diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.

REV: SALVS AVG NOSTRI; Chi-Rho flanked by A and W

EXE: TRP* Trier mint.

REF: RIC VIII Trier 333, rated R, August 353AD.

Very eager to have it reach me

[Victor]

Very eager to have it reach me

I am glad it is going to a good home!

Hopefully it will arrive quickly and safely.

[seth]

I bought this coin because it has the scarcer variation of head wear - the rosette diadem instead of the more regular pearl diadem that is usual for this type. Also, I have noticed that most of these coins are usually at a lower weight 4-5g instead of 7g like this one and a few others.
There might have been perhaps 2 distinct denominations with this type of reverse.

Struck on a smaller, thicker flan, the OP one above is over-weight for the type cf. RIC. The wide variations in weight could suggest that the type (recorded in RIC at pg. 165 - RIC VII Trier 332-336) was minted in 2 different denominations - the Maiorina (see below for the Maiorina at 3.86g) and the Double Maiorina w/ a weight of 6g and above as this example.

[seth]

This is quite an interesting and relatively rare issue, that I bought from a german dealer:

DECENTIUS AE1/2 23mm 5.5g Double-Maiorina (?) (F/aVF)

AV: DN DECENTI - VS CAESAR; bare headed, draped cuirassed bust r.

REV: SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES; large Chi-Rho, A - W in fields, inside wreath.

EXE: [T]AR Arles mint.

REF: RIC VIII Arles 193, rated S, 351-353AD.

A rare type, with the Chi-Rho monogram inside wreath. Found it quite hard to find.


Happy New Year everyone and good luck finding interesting gems!

[Victor]

This is quite an interesting and relatively rare issue,

Congrats on your new acquisition.

[seth]

Just bought this Poemenius from our host.
Very happy w/ the purchase, especially b/c this coin is one of the few - in my experience anyways - w/ mintmark on flan.
Can't wait to receive it!

[seth]

New Poemenii:

AE23mm 5.12g Maiorina, TRP* (* in exergue, not at exergual line) RIC VIII Trier 332
AE26mm 6.58g Double Maiorina (?), TRS* (* inside exergue, not at exergual line) RIC VIII Trier 332

[Victor]

You are building quite a collection of these

[seth]

I find it to be an intriguing issue and what I find most interesting are the discrepancies in weight. The Leo Benz spec for instance is at 23mm 3.86g while the OP coin you sold is at 7g, broad die on thick narrow flan, but I have seen more extreme variations with coins at ~20mm and 2/2.5g.
I think these were not really regular currency but rather a sort of ancient notgeld/necessity currency.

[seth]

Not a rare or particularly beautiful coin but interesting for its dimensions: at 34-32mm and "only" 7.50g it is a quite unusually wide flan, the largest I have seen up until now.

MAGNENTIUS AE1 34mm 7.50g Double Maiorina (F+/VF)

AV: D N MAGNEN - TIVS P F AVG, Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right.

REV: SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES, around Large Chi-Rho, flanked by A-W

EXE: TRP Trier mint.

REF: RIC VIII Trier 318, 352-353AD.

Full large flan, full legends.