ROMAN COIN, 1700 YEARS OLD & Coin Finds in Britain Book JUST 149 TICKETS

This Roman copper-alloy nummus was struck for Constantine II around AD 327, during the reign of his father, Constantine the Great. Constantine II was born in AD 316 and proclaimed Caesar in AD 317 while still an infant. Following his father’s death in 337, he became Augustus and ruled part of the western Roman Empire until his death in 340. Supplied to us by our friends at Winchester Coins.

The reverse carries the inscription PROVIDENTIAE CAESS, roughly meaning “To the foresight/providence of the Caesars.” It depicts a fortified structure traditionally described as a Roman camp gate, with two towers and a star above.

Camp-gate designs appeared extensively on coins of Constantine and his family. They probably symbolised military security, strong frontiers and the protection and stability of the Roman Empire. Whether the image represents an actual military camp gate or a more general fortified gateway remains debated.

The coin was minted at Arelatum, modern-day Arles in southern France. Arles was an important Roman city with strong connections to Constantine, and its imperial mint produced large quantities of coinage during this period. Mint marks beneath the reverse design can sometimes identify both the mint and individual workshop responsible for striking the coin.

The term nummus is commonly used for these small late-Roman copper-alloy coins because their precise contemporary denomination remains uncertain.

The coin belongs to Reece Period 16 (AD 317–330), a chronological system used by archaeologists to classify Roman coins found in Britain.

Book

Coin Finds in Britain

Over the centuries Britain’s soil has yielded countless spectacular hoards of ancient coins and other artefacts, affording us priceless insights into our ancestors lives and it is not only such large finds that await discovery but also many thousands of individual pieces. Wonderfully, discoveries both minor and momentous are frequently made not by teams of professionals but by amateur archaeologists and metal-detector enthusiasts, for whom this book is intended as a helpful companion. It provides a catalogue of commonly encountered coins, dating from ancient times until the modern day, explaining their historical context, how they might have come to be lost and where they may be found today.

Coin Finds in Britain A Collectors Guide
Author(s): Michael Cuddeford
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, United Kingdom
Imprint: Shire Publications
ISBN-13: 9780747812449, 978-0747812449