The London Mint of Constantine

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Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Friday, 12 February 2010

Dr J S Vogelaar

It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Stoffel Vogelaar. Although he was not in the best of health, it was unexpected. He passed away peacefully on 2nd January 2010 aged sixty. An obituary will appear in the March edition of Spink's Numismatic Circular and on this blog shortly.

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

A New CLARITAS of Crispus


CNG Electronic Auction 226, Lot: 564. Estimate $100. Sold for $451.
Crispus. Caesar, AD 316-326. Æ Follis (19mm, 3.31 g, 7h). Londinium (London) mint. Struck circa AD 317. CRISPVS NOB CAES, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / CLARITAS REIPVBLICAE, Sol standing left, raising hand and holding globe; S/*-P//PLN. RIC VI -. Good VF, brown patina. Similar to RIC 119-123 but those issues have a + below the S.

(Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.- www.cngcoins.com)

That was the auction description. The S over star issue of London is rare and difficult to come by. Until recently, all of this issue were SOLI INVICTO COMITI types. Then a few CLARITAS REIPVBLICAE types for Constantine began to appear - I know of half a dozen examples only. Then a few weeks ago, this coin of Crispus appeared in the CNG electronic auction . The description is essentially correct but the + suggested for RIC VII 119-123 is essentially just a stylised star and the more usual * is the more common mark. This is the only example of this issue with CLARITAS for Crispus that I know of. This coin is now in the DiMarzio Collection and I am grateful for Paul's encouragement to publish it here. I would also be interested if anyone knows of any other examples.