THE MARE NOSTRUM HOARD

Theodosius II AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 441-450. D N THEODOSIVS • P • F • AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / IMP • XXXXII • COS • XVII • P • P •, Constantinopolis seated to left, holding globus cruciger and sceptre, foot on prow, shield by throne; star in left field, COMOB in exergue. RIC X 293; Depeyrot 84/1. 4.46g, 21mm, 7h.

Extremely Fine.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

795.

300

796.

Theodosius II AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 441-450. D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / IMP XXXXII COS XVII P P, Constantinopolis seated to left, holding globus cruciger and sceptre, foot on prow, shield by throne; star in left field, CONOB in exergue. RIC X 323; Depeyrot 84/1. 4.43g, 23mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine; struck on a broad planchet.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

797.

Leo I AV Solidus. Thessalonica, AD 462 or 466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORIA AVGGG, Victory standing to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in left and right fields, THSOB in exergue. RIC X 618; Depeyrot 59/1. 4.36g, 21mm, 6h.

Near Extremely Fine. Rare.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

Leo I AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 462 or 466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORIA AVGGG Θ, Victory standing to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. RIC X 605; Depeyrot 93/1. 4.48g, 21mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine; highly lustrous.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

798.

Leo I AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 462 or 466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORIA AVGGG Γ, Victory standing to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. RIC X 605; Depeyrot 93/1. 4.36g, 19mm, 6h.

Good Extremely Fine.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

300

799.

Leo I AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 462 or 466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORIA AVGGG I, Victory standing to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. RIC X 605; Depeyrot 93/1. 4.37g, 20mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

300

Pseudo-Imperial, uncertain AV Solidus. In the name of Leo I. Uncertain mint, circa 462-474. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORIA AVGGG I, Victory standing to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. For prototype, cf. RIC X 605 and Depeyrot 93/1; for similar, cf. Leu 4, 831. 4.35g, 20mm, 6h.

Good Very Fine; flan slightly wavy.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

802.

Patricius, son of General Aspar, as Caesar?

Leo I, with Patricius (or Leo II?), as Caesar, AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 470-471 or 474. D N LEO PERPET AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Leo (I or II?) facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / SALVS REIPVBLICAE C, Patricius (or Leo II?), nimbate and wearing imperial mantle, standing facing, holding globus cruciger; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. RIC X 802 (Leo IIR4); DOCLR 532 (Patricius) var. (step on rev.); MIRB 11b (Leo II); Depeyrot 91/1 (Leo I); NAC 29, 670 var. (same). 4.47g, 22mm, 6h. Extremely Fine; minor scratches to rev., boasting lustrous metal. An exceptionally rare and enigmatic issue, one of only 8 known; potentially of great numismatic significance.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

7,500

Grierson and May date this issue to AD 470/1, asserting that the terminating ‘C’ on the reverse inscription is an abbreviation for ‘Caesar’ and that the standing figure depicted is Patricius, who briefly assumed the role in the 470/1 under Leo I. A son of Asper - himself a prominent patrician and magister militum who had exerted considerable influence over the Eastern Empire since the days of Theodosius II - Patricius was promoted to the rank of Caesar amid a protracted power struggle between his father and the similarly ambitious Isuarian general (and future emperor) Zeno. This conflict appears to have escalated yet further after the ascension of Patricius and evidently caused Zeno great insult, as Asper was assassinated on his orders and the new Caesar swiftly deposed before the conclusion of 471.

Conversely, Kent (RIC X) attributes this solidus to circa January-February of 474, during the brief reign of the 6-year-old Leo II, son of Zeno and grandson of his predecessor, Leo I, who had died at some point in late 473/early 474. A third possibility also exists, ostensibly first posited by the cataloguer of the 2005 NAC specimen, which amalgamates both theories. It proposes that this issue may have been struck during 473, when Leo I, at this stage frail and without a Caesar after the removal of Patricius, appointed Leo II to the rank of Caesar, a position the boy would have occupied for but a few months before his premature promotion. Adopting this interpretation allows the ‘C’ on the reverse to still be viewed to signify ‘Caesar’, as Grierson and May contend, but refers to Leo II as opposed to Patricius.

An agreement on the authority is unlikely until a comprehensive die study is completed and the complicated years of 473-4 - which saw numerous ascensions, deposals, deaths and four emperors – are better understood. As it stands, the prospect of this being the sole issue featuring the figure of Patricius remains a tantalising one.

Anthemius AV Solidus. Mediolanum, AD 467-472. D N ANTHEMIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Anthemius and Leo I standing facing, each holding a spear and globus cruciger together; MD between, COMOB in exergue. RIC X 2887; DOCLR 914 (same dies); Depeyrot 29/3; Toffanin 526/2. 4.42g, 22mm, 12h.

Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.

This coin published in I. Vecchi, R. Beale and S. Parkin, The Mare Nostrum Hoard (forthcoming); From the Mare Nostrum Hoard (1954).

1,200

803.