VOT XX MVLT XXX

Bust of Galla Placidia to the right, draped, wearing a diadem of pearls, a necklace of pearls and long earrings. Above, the hand of God crowning her.

An angel standing left and holding a long Latin cross adorned with jewels. A star above the angel.

Photo of a coin sold the 08/01/2013 by Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XVI, lot 1224, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1482425, link to their website: https://www.cngcoins.com/.

On the reverse I noted ''Angel'' in the description. We can also say that this is Victoria but the image of the victory at that time had indeed become that of an angel symbolizing the Christian victory. I note that this character is probably also a representation of the Empress in the guise of the angel. Indeed, the character often wears the same double pearl diadem and the clothes are decorated like those of Galla Placidia. I have noticed many times that on the coinage of various Empresses the character on the reverse is depicted as the Empress.

The weight of this coin is low: 4.16 grs for a coin in very good condition. The usual weights for Solidii are however still very precise and vary very little, always around 4.45 grs. A low weight often indicating a modern forgery, I wanted to check if these coins are associated with other coins. This is the case, another coin sharing the same dies weighs 4.49 grs. In addition yet another coin this time with different dies, displays a weight of 4.32 grs, also quite low. The type without an officina letter also displays lower weights. So I see no reason to consider this coin as doubtfull. We will simply note that the weights seem to vary more than usual in this mint.

It seems that when no officina letter is inscribed on the reverse, the bust of the Empress still shows a Latin cross on the right shoulder. The coins with an officina letter on the reverse seem to show a bust without a cross on the shoulder. I noticed these peculiarities by analyzing many copies but not yet all the sales and coins in museums. Which therefore does not exclude the possibility of seeing a variant. At the stage of my study, I noted:

For the type without officina letter:

• 1 obverse die and 2 reverse dies.

For the type with officina letter:

• 2 obverse dies and 3 reverse dies.

Unlike other mints, the pearl necklace never seems double. I also notice that this type, whether without or with an officina mark, always shows a Latin cross on the reverse with a dot on each side at the base. As well as a dot located above, at the end of the horizontal part of the cross on the left with another dot positioned in the same way at the other end of the cross. This detail seems unique to the Constantinople mint.