Constantine II AE Follis?

8 posts
Hi numismatic folks

I joined the site a few weeks ago and have completed 5 successful swaps. Love Numista!

I have spent many hours searching through various websites to try and educate myself on this little coin left to me by my dad. I really thought I would crack it but have finally given in and hope that the knowledgeable on Numista can shed more light on it.

Forgive me if I have any of this wrong but this is what I have learned.

Obverse: Inscription - CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB CAES = Constantine Junior as Caesar.

Bare-headed with draped and cuirassed bust facing right.



Reverse: Inscription - PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS = Prince of Youth.

Mars ? helmeted facing right holding spear point downwards in right hand with chlamys over shoulder and shield in left hand wearing battle dress? There is a capital A to the left of Mars. In the exergue are two symbols that are clear but I cannot identify.



At first I thought the A was for Arles mint but now I wonder if it stands for Alpha?

I have seen a number of AE coins with a similar bare-headed bust and they were all from the Trier mint.

The coin alignment is reversed. It is 20mm diameter and weighs 2.84 grams

What has stumped is that none of the coins I have seen that carry these inscriptions have this reverse image of Mars. They all seem to depict Jupiter with a globe. Is it what you call a mule perhaps? Or a fake!

Any help will be much appreciated - only wish that Dad was around to share it with.

kind regards

Adam
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Hi Adam,

You're right on obverse as being of Constantine II (Constantinus Junior). The coin was struck while he was Caesar in the West under his father's reign, then between 317 and 337.

For the reverse:
  • Exact lettering would be PRINCIPIA IVVENTVTIS with the cesura PRINCIPI-A-IVVENTVTIS as I seem to see the A between the head and the top of the spear. This title was bestowed on eligible successors to the emperor and pretty consistent with the situation here of Constantine II being the successor of Constantine I.
  • The figure is not Mars or Jupiter but the Prince (remaining of your description is correct).
  • The letter A in left field does not stand for the mint, the two letters in exergue do. Here you have RP: R for the Rome mint and P for the first officina of the mint. The combination A in left field and RP in exergue seems to have been in use only during the year 317.

Diameter and weight are consistent for this type of nummus. All this combined places your coin as a variant of RIC#91 which does not list your officina for this type. See two similar coins here (website in french).

This coin is not listed here on Numista then you could create a file for it as you wish. ;)
Sapientiae plerumque stultitia est comes.
Si c'est un grand plaisir d'être reconnu par ses amis, c'est peut-être encore plus flatteur d'être reconnu par ses adversaires.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Hello Pejounet

Thank you very much for all that detail; for solving what I guessed was beyond me to work out, however, the research was an education!

I hope to learn more when I have time and maybe specialise in a small area of numismatics.

Thank you once again.

I will look into entering the coin on the site but might need help.

kind regards

Adam
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Quote: "pejounet"Exact lettering would be PRINCIPIA IVVENTVTIS with the cesura PRINCIPI-A-IVVENTVTIS as I seem to see the A between the head and the top of the spear. This title was bestowed on eligible successors to the emperor and pretty consistent with the situation here of Constantine II being the successor of Constantine I.​

​Very informed commentary by pejounet, as usual, but I have one little correction to offer. The reverse legend, indeed, is PRINCIPIA IVVENTVTIS, but this is not the same as "PRINCEPS IVVENTVTIS". "Princeps" has given us the word "prince" and "iuuentutis" translates as "of the youth", so, altogether something like "prince/leader of the youth". This title was used from the time of Augustus on coins. I myself have one of Domitian with this title, which means that he was next in line under his brother Titus.

"Principia" is a rather difficult Late-Roman word in this context. I cannot imagine it to be anything else than a neuter plural, the singular of which is "principium". It translate as "beginning", "starting point", etc. In Late Rome, "principium" came to also mean more specifically "the beginning of a reign" (see Souter's Glossary of Later Latin), but with "iuuentutis" it doesn't make much sense. Stevenson/Smith/Madden were also confused by this expression:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=PRINCIPIA%20IVVENTVTIS

Full page:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/Dictionary_Of_Roman_Coins/dictionaryByPage.asp?page=653
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Quote: "Camerinvs"
Quote: "pejounet"Exact lettering would be PRINCIPIA IVVENTVTIS with the cesura PRINCIPI-A-IVVENTVTIS as I seem to see the A between the head and the top of the spear. This title was bestowed on eligible successors to the emperor and pretty consistent with the situation here of Constantine II being the successor of Constantine I.​

​​Very informed commentary by pejounet, as usual, but I have one little correction to offer. The reverse legend, indeed, is PRINCIPIA IVVENTVTIS, but this is not the same as "PRINCEPS IVVENTVTIS". "Princeps" has given us the word "prince" and "iuuentutis" translates as "of the youth", so, altogether something like "prince/leader of the youth". This title was used from the time of Augustus on coins. I myself have one of Domitian with this title, which means that he was next in line under his brother Titus.

​"Principia" is a rather difficult Late-Roman word in this context. I cannot imagine it to be anything else than a neuter plural, the singular of which is "principium". It translate as "beginning", "starting point", etc. In Late Rome, "principium" came to also mean more specifically "the beginning of a reign" (see Souter's Glossary of Later Latin), but with "iuuentutis" it doesn't make much sense. Stevenson/Smith/Madden were also confused by this expression:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=PRINCIPIA%20IVVENTVTIS

​Full page:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/Dictionary_Of_Roman_Coins/dictionaryByPage.asp?page=653
​Agree with you on the princeps title which was rather used at the beginning of the Empire period. I have various coins with this reverse (including a denarius of Domitian, perhaps same as yours?) and while digging up about that, I did find supporting points for princeps use but not for later principi or principia lettering style.

I came up with this interpretation given the context: born in 316, Constantine II was made Caesar by his father in 317...at the age of 1 (he also became commander of Gaul around the age of 10-12 if I remember correctly...what a career :wiz:). Then, this lettering would express the idea that the depicted caesar (Constantine II) was the intended successor of the emperor (Constantine I). Similar to what you point as "beginning of a reign" I guess (i.e. caesar in the context).

I'll look for other supporting researches and interpretations. If you have any other info/links on that, I'm here :D


@Adam: if you need help to create this coin's file on Numista, let me know and I'll help you with that.
Sapientiae plerumque stultitia est comes.
Si c'est un grand plaisir d'être reconnu par ses amis, c'est peut-être encore plus flatteur d'être reconnu par ses adversaires.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Thank you both for your insight and detailed knowledge.

I may need help so thank you for your offer Pejounet.

many thanks

Adam
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Something that I might have missed her but can you explain the concept of the coin in honour of a future leader/emperor (one at the time the coin was struck) and who the bust was meant to depict - an image of the adult Constantine II or his father as was at that time.

If it was the former is this why he was bare-headed rather than wearing a laureate?
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Quote: "BatmanBlade"​Something that I might have missed her but can you explain the concept of the coin in honour of a future leader/emperor (one at the time the coin was struck) and who the bust was meant to depict - an image of the adult Constantine II or his father as was at that time.

​If it was the former is this why he was bare-headed rather than wearing a laureate?
There was no TV or internet or newspapers at that time, then coinage was an important part of the daily propaganda; this was a way for reigning people to show their power and greatness. Honouring someone was either to show regards after death (see the Divo Claudio or Divuus Augustus coins for instance) or celebrate a military conquest (see the Judaea series for instance) but also a way to make people aware the honoured person exists and represents something (i.e. has some importance/powers or is intended to have some importance/powers in the future). Sometimes, Emperors were also elevating children to the rank of Caesar to represent them in a province.

Here, the bust is of Constantine II (Junior) as he is the one honoured as being the son of the Emperor and his successor. The portrait depicts a younger man, even if a baby face would probably have been more realistic as he was 1 at the time of the strike.

Making it short about the laurel crown:
Originally, laurel crown is a symbol of military victory and was thus given to generals who came back victorious from the battle field. This came along with the title of Imperator (not Caesar, that originated as a name) which was awarded by soldiers acclaiming their general. This title is not to be translated by something like "King" but rather "Commander in Chief" i.e. the general was acclaimed by his soldier to be their military commander.
Few years later Julius Caesar came up, conquered Gaul, and was awarded the right to be Imperator for life by the Senate and to pass on this title to his son and so on. The laurel attribute stayed with the inheritable title (while originally the awarded general was offering the said laurel crown to Jupiter during a ceremony once back to Rome).
Several acclaims were possible like the 26 or 27 acclaim of Claudius who had a good ZERO fight during his life. :°:wiz:

Not sure if this fully answer your point but I hope this helps ;)
Sapientiae plerumque stultitia est comes.
Si c'est un grand plaisir d'être reconnu par ses amis, c'est peut-être encore plus flatteur d'être reconnu par ses adversaires.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

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