Honorius AE Nummus Constantinople AD 395-402

 

Obverse: DN HONORI-VS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: VIRTVS EXERCITI, Honorius, standing facing, head right, in full military attire, holding inverted spear in right hand, inner hand resting on shield, crowned with laurel wreath by Victory, who is standing right, facing left

No Fieldmarks/Officina

Mintmark CONSΓ

RIC IX Constantinople/Arcadius 61

 

**OUTSTANDING REVERSE DETAILS, SUPERB EXAMPLE**

While the reverse type is quite common, this type is actually quite RARE for Honorius, in fact RIC/OCRE has only ONE entry for this issue of Honorius from Constantinople, of which they show roughly 15 examples; the details on this specimen are stunning, especially the reverse, although it is difficult to see the extent of said detail unless one has this coin in hand and/or under light; the obverse portrait is quite good as well, although Honorius was but a child at this time, under the ‘care’ of Stilicho

We can be fairly confident that this type did not circulate in the West as, according to OCRE and other sources, there have been zero examples of this issue found in hoards West of modern day Turkey; usually, even if a coin was minted in the East, we find at least a handful scattered throughout the entirety of the Empire, but not so in this case; by this point, C.AD 400, the Roman Empire had become two separate Empires, Eastern and Western, despite the polite fiction of one, united Empire; it is truly amazing how FAST the transformation occurred as well, from a strong and for the most part united Empire under Constantine in AD 337, to less than 70 years later a permanently divided Empire 



All coins are authentic and from my own personal collection. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

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