Unusual late Roman bronze

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Hello

 

I‘ve been puzzled by this AE4 4th century bronze for a long time. I have not been able to find any reference to a bearded portrait of a Caesar (legible script on Obv reads ‘ ….S CAES’) for any Gloria Exercitvs issues. Weight 0.80gm, diameter 13.5mm

 

Possibly a barbarous imitation but the style is quite fine. Anyone able to shed any light on this?

 

thanks 

 

Adam

Might be a double strike? I see two eyes on the portrait.

Having a mental breakdown over bronze disease

I don't think it is a double strike. You could try searching here: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=CAES+GLORIA+EXERCITVS&category=1-2&lot=&date_from=&date_to=&thesaurus=1&images=1&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1¤cy=usd&order=0

 

I wouldn't be so sure to see that as a beard though, maybe just a drawn out chin :)

*inspecting a Roman mintmark*

Thank you for the responses and the link. I searched through many images as I have done for several years but I still can’t find a portrait that looks similar. best wishes Adam 

Looking at the Nummus Bible Database of coins made between 313 and 476, the combination of CAES on the obverse and a Gloria Exercitus reverse would almost always point to either Constans or Dalmatius (usually spelled Delmatius on his coins).

At first glance, Dalmatius might be worth looking into. Under Constantine I, he was made caesar of Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaea in 335. However, he was never a Roman emperor (augustus), because he was killed in the purge that followed Constantine's death in 337. His coins sometimes show a protruding jaw/chin that might potentially be mistaken as a beard.

 

However, your coin contains a number of oddities. The size of 13.5 mm and weight of 0.80 grams places it firmly within AE4 territory, whereas the nummi of Dalmatius and Constans are usually at least 15 mm and 1.6 grams. The bust on the obverse is rather crude, and the mint mark is slanted and has too few letters (VV?). (For Dalmatius, one would expect PCONST or SCONST for Arelate, which minted coins showing two standards on the reverse.)

So overall, I tend to think that your coin is an imitation rather than a genuine issue.

Yes I would agree that it must be an imitation as it doesn’t fit any known issues it seems. Thank you. 

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