RIC VII, TRIER [before 453]/449, CONSTANTINE II, UNLISTED BUST TYPE [B1], HYBRID [IRREGULAR COIN]

OBVERSE	CONSTNNTINVSIVNNOBC [CONSTNNTINVS (sic!) IVN NOB C]; head r., laur. [B1] [TRIER before 453].
REVERSE	PROVIDEN-TINDAVGG [PROVIDENTIND (sic!; D retrograde) AVGG]; camp gate with two turrets, no doors, star above. STR in exergue [TRIER 449].
NOT IN RIC	UNLISTED BUST TYPE - B1, HYBRID. Bust type not attested for Constantine's II coins from this issue. Note also errors in legends and rev. appropriate for Augusti. Apparently an ancient imitation. General note from p. 160: "The only disturbing feature of the post-324 bronze coinages is the appearance of both regular and irregular-looking coins of the types VIRTVS AVGG or CAESS, some of them with the Providentiae reverse, others of the type with four turrets familiar from the coinage of Arles. The specimens kmown to the present writer are very few and do not permit us to reconstruct the pattern of this coinage. The majority of these coins, recorded by Maurice, seem to have been part of the Cologne hoard and therefore regarded as valid currency. These irregular coins and their counterparts, struck at the same time by the mint of Arles, point to a major confusion in the financial administration in Gaul".

NOTES

Weight 2.41 g; diameter 17.50 mm. Sold on CGB E-shop (brm_284700) for EUR 195. Other specimens: - from the Rafael Alcover Robles Collection; weight 2.70 g; diameter 18 mm [click for picture].