Divus Claudius II Gothicus 1/2 follis RIC 112 ex NFA XXXI, 100+ year provenance

Description: Roman ImperialDivus Claudius II Gothicus (AD 268-270), issued by Constantine I (AD 306-337) Denomination: bronze AE half follisWeight: 1.96 gramsDiameter: 16 mmDie Axis: 12 hStruck: AD 317-318Mint: Rome, 3rd officinaObverse: DIVO CLAVDIO OPT IMP, laureate and veiled head rightReverse: MEMORIAE AETERNAE, eagle standing right, head left, with wings spread; R T in exergueReferences: Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) volume VII 112Provenance: ex Numismatic Fine Arts XXXI (March 18, 1993), lot 1300 (part of), Bavarian collectionGrade / Comments: Good Very Fine, some roughness, dark green patina. Includes original paper envelope and card stock ticket from the Bavarian collection noting purchase in 1918, and later collector's ticket This commemorative was part of a small series of bronze follis and half-follis issued by Constantine I in an effort to bolster his dynastic credentials by honoring three previous emperors -- Claudius II, Maximian, and Constantius I -- to whom he had real or purported family connections.Regarding the Bavarian collection, the following is taken from the 1993 NFA catalog introduction:"The following 352 lots comprising nearly 3,500 coins represent a single collection, formed in Germany between c. 1890 and c. 1930. Incredibly, this vast assemblage has remained essentially undisturbed during the last half century, each piece still in its original envelope and accompanied by its original ticket. Though most of the coins cost no more than a mark or two at the time, it is obvious that meticulous care was taken in compiling and maintaining a well-organized collection. Most tickets contain detailed numismatic information and often include the date and place of purchase as well as what appear to be several collector's personal codes. In many instances our collector's handwritten envelopes and tickets are supplemented by those of his purchase sources. Tickets imprinted with the names of venerable dealers -- Adolph Hess, A. Reichmann, Eugen Merzbacher, Bruder Egger, and others -- conjure up images of the bustling numismatic trade in Central Europe before the Second Word War.The coins themselves are for the most part Roman Imperial, yet there is also a wide array of Greek, Greek Imperial, and Byzantine. From the contents of the collection it would appear that our collector's primary area of interest was Roman billon and bronze of the third to mid-fourth centuries. He also had a fondness for the billon coinage of Roman Egypt, as evidenced by the number of Alexandrian tetradrachms he acquired. ...A certain sadness tinges our efforts at dispersing this remarkable collection. For in the present era, it seems a greater marvel for a large collection to have survived so completely intact for sixty years than for a coin to survive in its mint state for over two millennia."Additionally, still available online is an article originally published in The Celator, January 1994 by Victor Failmezger who in addition to the coins he won himself at the NFA sale also studied the tickets of many others. He discovered that the tickets were cut up business cards of Michael Kastl, a dealer of military regalia in Munich allowing him to wonder whether Herr Kastl may have been the collector himself.Coins are guaranteed genuine for life. Additionally, returns may be made within 30 days for any reason as long as items are undamaged and unaltered.

Price: 60 USD

Location: Madison, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-08-02T14:47:21.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD