Hungary, Louis II Silver Dinar Ext Fine

Born around the year A.D. 265 in Roman Dacia, Licinius grew up with the future emperor Galerius and they served in the Roman army together. Galerius later appointed him Augustus in the West in A.D. 308. Following the deaths of Galerius, Maximinus II and Maxentius, the empire was left under the control of Licinius and Constantine the Great in A.D. 313. Licinius married Constantine’s half-sister, Constantia, to improve relations but in reality, both men only wanted control of the whole empire! They fought on and off until A.D. 324 when Constantine defeated Licinius first at Hadrianopolis and then at Chrysopolis. Licinius surrendered and, thanks to his wife, was sent to retirement. In A.D. 325 Licinius and his son were both hanged on the orders of Constantine for plotting. We offer you a bronze coin struck for Licinius which shows his bust on the obverse with various reverses. We can provide two grades, Fine and Very Fine, and as we have not been able to offer these for a long while we expect they will sell fast! Get the coin of Constantine the Great’s ultimate rival and imagine, what could the world be like if he had won.

When the Arabs conquered Iran, one small pocket of resistance held out in the mountains of Ṭabarestān, led by a governor of the province, a Sasanian prince. The area was named after the Tapurians who had been deported there by the Parthian king Phraates I and was famous for its silk fabrics. In the early 8th century (711-712), they began issuing these distinctive coins like those of the Sasanians but with half the weight. The coins have a portrait of a Sasanian emperor, to the right of the portrait is a ruler or governor’s name written in Pahlavi script. On the reverse there is a Zoroastrian fire altar with attendants on either side. Zoroastrianism was the first religion known to be practised in western Asiatic history. At the far left is the year of issue expressed in words, and at the right is the place of minting, TPWRSTʾN (Ṭabarestān). These coins are now around 1250 years old and are in wonderful condition.

Gallienus ruled as sole emperor from A.D. 260-268 during one of the most difficult times in the history of the empire. Not only was the empire facing natural disasters and invasions on all sides but he had to face at least 8 rebellions from his own governors and generals! He issued a fantastic group of bronze Antoniniani coins to honour the Gods, asking for their protection against these troubles. We sold out of these coins last time but we managed to buy a small group of the winged horse, Pegasus, rearing on its hind legs. These are designed to honour Sol, the personification of the sun. These are linked to the protection of the games that were run in all the Gods honour. The coins are Very Fine but because of the chaos at the time remember they may be a little weakly struck.