Magnentius AE Majorina Arles AD 351-353

 

Obverse: DN MAGNEN-TIVS PF AVG, bareheaded, draped and cuirassed bust right, A behind bust

Reverse: VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE, wo Victories, winged, draped, facing each other, holding between them a wreath inscribed VOT/V/MVL/X, C over I/S below

Mintmark PAR

RIC VIII Arelate 181

23mm, 4g

 

*EXTRAORDINARY RARELY SEEN HIGH-QUALITY CONDITON*

This is perhaps one of the finest examples of the type I have seen and is undoubtably the finest that I have handled to date; from the magnificent details of the obverse portrait, to the extra sharp features of the reverse, a very fine example of what these looked like in the 4th Century; the majority of examples we see today are quite worn, with details missing or parts of the obverse/reverse legends missing, but this specimen retains ALL of its original details, with both obverse and reverse legend complete and on-flan, as is the mintmark and officina symbols on the reverse

OCRE currently lists ZERO example of RIC VIII Arelate 181, with Nummus-Bible showing only seven specimens, which includes the TWO listed by auction archives/ACSearch; of course, RIC gives this type a rarity rating of ‘Common’, but we know not to take this literally at this point, as RIC is not constantly updated and is today used more for cataloging purposes; however it is very interesting to see the types that were given a R5 rating for extremely rare become extremely common, and vice versa, as more hoards are discovered thanks to GPR and LiDAR systems making it much easier to see what lies beneath our feet


I find it very interesting that OCRE does not list a single example for RIC VIII Arelate 181, as most often, even when there seems to but just one known example, the British Museum or American Numismatic Society quite often holds the only known specimen, but that is not the case with this issue; this RIC entry appears to be the last of the type that did not contain a Chi-Rho, as RIC 184 and RIC 186, the two entries immediately after, do show a Chi-Rho above the wreath inscribed VOT


Magnentius of course was a usurper against first Constans (whom he had assassinated) and then against Constantius II; Magnentius would finally be defeated at Battle of Mons Seleucus in AD 353, after more than two years of defiance 






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