IMP XXXXII COS XVII P P (type II, B) (441 / 450)

Bust of Theodosius II facing, cuirassed, wearing a helmet with crest and a pearl diadem. Holding a spear passing behind his head with the right hand and a decorated shield with a horseman slaying an enemy, with the left hand.

Constantinople seated left on a throne, holding a spear with the left hand and a globe surmounted by a cross with the right hand. A shield behind the throne and a star in the field to the left.

Photo of a coin sold on 17 March 2023 by Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Auction 383, lot 2159, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10670765, link to their website: https://www.kuenker.de/. Formerly sold on 11 October 2004 by Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Auction 133, lot 555, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=193938, and sold again on 05 March 2007 by this same auction house, Auction 155, lot 373, lien vers la vente: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=360605.

Variant without dot in the legends and with a officina letter, mark COMOB. Type B shield.

Another coin sharing the same reverse die has been sold on 06 August 2022 by N&N London, Online Auction 6, lot 480, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9778234. To date, only one reverse die associated with two obverse dies appears to exist. All Type II coins, with or without obverse dots but with a officina letter, were produced by experienced engravers. However, the coins are of several different styles, and it is likely that they are older dies associated with Type I or II but bearing the mint mark CONOB. Several dies (from all officinas) remind me of coins already classified under the numbers associated with these AYC #34 (a, b, etc.); same dies or same engraver? Were these small productions (fewer than 5 or 10 examples on average per mint) made by groups of experienced engravers from Constantinople or still based in Constantinople? It seems logical to begin by deducing that several series were intentionally produced according to the periods or locations. Since the coins in the series that interests us here bear the COMOB mark, I further deduce that these strikes were produced by an itinerant mint that had fled the Huns. The only difference we note on this series of coins AYC #34 (a, b, etc.) compared to the series classified before it (type I or II without a dot or officina mark) is that no example was made by inexperienced engravers: the legends are perfect (The only exception being AYC #34 c, RIC 285 having INP on the reverse; this may be due to a lack of space forcing the engravers to glue the last bar too close to the last leg), the design is fine and very often typical of the Constantinople style. It should also be noted that all coins with a officina mark have a type B shield. The example in the Museo Civico of Turin referenced by RIC X remains to be analyzed. All the other copies I have seen are cited in this number.

This obverse die is also present on another coin with a reverse bearing a dot and the officina , see comments here : https://www.all-your-coins.com/en/archives-anciennes/romaines-imperiales/imp-xxxxii-cos-xvii-p-p-type-iii-ii-b-441450. Lending further weight to this hypothesis explained on the link above, is AYC 39, RIC -, which shares this same obverse die, this time with two dots on the reverse and no officina letter. see comments here: https://www.all-your-coins.com/en/archives-anciennes/romaines-imperiales/imp-xxxxii-cos-xvii-p-p-type-iii-ii-b-441450-1225.

Type II: with the mark CONOB or COMOB (COMOB here) and the reverse legend generally ending at the level of the shield. No legend punctuation on the reverse. A square, upright throne, the right knee is rounded, natural drapery, and a vertical scepter. This corresponds to Type I of RIC X. Variant B is the same as RIC X: a smaller, rounder shield.