Constantine II Gloria Exercitus Fine

Continuing our series of the famous Constantinian Dynasty we offer Constans, the only son who certainly visited Britain. Born around A.D. 320, Constans was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. Following a short war with his brother, Constantine II, he survived and ruled the Western empire with Constantius II in the East. Constans even visited Britain in A.D. 343 by enduring the very dangerous crossing of the channel in mid-winter, campaigning against the Picts and Scots. This means Constans was the last legitimate Roman Emperor we know visited our shores. In A.D. 350 he was killed while on a hunting trip in Gaul by followers of the usurper Magnentius who went on to rule. We offer bronze coins struck between A.D. 342-348 with his bust on the obverse. The two Victories facing each other on the reverse symbolise military success for both Constans and his surviving brother, Constantius II. Here we offer them in Fine, we suspect it will sell out fast like the others in this series.

Before the Crisis of the Third Century, most cities in the Roman Empire did not have walls, dried fruit from Syria could be bought in Britain and copper from Cornwall was traded in Egypt! Sadly this did not last and continuing with our series we offer one of the harder major Emperors to get from the Crisis, Claudius II Gothicus. Born around A.D. 214 he had held several important military commands during the reigns of Valerian I and Gallienus. When Gallienus was murdered at the siege of Milan, Claudius was swiftly proclaimed emperor by the troops and approved by the Senate. He took the city of Milan and suppressed the rebellion. He quickly defeated the invading Alemanni tribe, then the invading Goths in A.D. 269, winning the title ‘Gothicus Maximus’. Next year the Goths attacked again in Thrace, but an outbreak of plague left them so weak they were again defeated by Claudius. But the plague spread from the captured Goths to the Roman army. Claudius himself fell victim and died of plague at Sirmium in August A.D. 269. He was the turning point in the fortunes of the Roman Empire, the beginning of a long struggle back to stability after The Crisis. We offer Billon Antoninianus with various reverses in an About Very Fine grade with various reverses. As is typical with these coins from The Crisis some will have weaker sections and the first to order will get the best! Claudius Gothicus is one of the hardest Crisis emperors to get so these will run out fast.

We bought these some time ago, but due to lack of space, we asked the dealer we bought them from to store them for us. He recently asked if we still wanted them? As we had already paid for them, we said yes and now you can own one of these fantastic display pieces at a lot less than is being asked elsewhere. You can take one or more coins or any other collectable, put it in this frame and it will appear to be floating in space. When we first saw it, it blew us away. This is the answer to displaying your coins or other collectables without damaging them. Using it is quite simple: you open the case, position your items where you want them, close the case and there they are – floating in space. If you want to replace the items, all you have to do is open the case, take the items out and replace them with a new coin. These were originally made to sell for £19.95, but the manufacturer never got around to advertising them. We bought them right, as is our plan, if we buy right we sell right. The outer case measures 13 x13 cm and the inner surface measures 10 x10 cm. Once you have seen one you will want to buy some. Remember, they are not just for coins you can display stamps, buttons, curios just about anything that you want.