RIC VII, TRIER 449/450, CONSTANTINE I, HYBRID [IRREGULAR COIN]

OBVERSE	CONSTAN-TINVSAVG [CONSTANTINVS AVG]; head r., laur. [TRIER 449].
REVERSE	PROVIDEN-TIAECAESS [PROVIDENTIAE CAESS]; camp gate with two turrets, no doors, star above. PTR in exergue [TRIER 450].
NOT IN RIC	HYBRID. Obverse TRIER 449 with reverse TRIER 450 [or 451-457]. Apparently an ancient imitation. See also TRIER [before 453], CONSTANTINE II, UNLISTED OBVERSE LEGEND AND BUST TYPE [B1] [IRREGULAR COIN] with rev. minted from the same die. General note from p. 160: "The only disturbing feature of the post-324 bronze coinages [from Trier] 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 2.43 g; diameter 17-18 mm. From Leszek Wąsik's collection. Other specimens: - from CGB E-shop (brm_284503), sold for EUR 250 (note error in obv. legend: CONSTANITINVS instead of CONSTANTINVS); weight 3.36 g; diameter 19 mm [click for picture]; - sold on Leu Numismatik web auction 10, part 2 (lot 1681) in December 2019 for CHF 130 (note errors in rev. legend and RTR in m.m); weight 2.52 g; diameter 18 mm [click for picture].