Group of Six [6] AR Roman Denarii. 1st century BC-2nd century AD.

Siscia mint; struck AD 320-321. 2nd officina. CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head to right / D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG, wreath enclosing VOT • XX in two lines; BSIS(star) in exergue. RIC VII 159. 3.53gr, 19mm, 1h.

Extremely Fine. Much original silvering remaining.

From a private, UK, collection.

Rome mint; struck AD 87. [IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XIII] CENS PER P P, laureate head to right / [VIRTVTI] AVGVSTI, Virtus standing to right, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium; S C across fields. RIC II.1 550; BMCRE 404. 10.04gr, 28mm, 6h.

Fine. Edges having been tapped to create raised rims.

Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.

Proto-contorniate is the modern term used to describe Roman Imperial and Provincial bronze coins of the first, second, and early third centuries with hammered-up edges. These raised edges on the rims probably occurred after these bronze issues no longer circulated and ceased to be part of the currency in general use. A common assumption is that proto-contorniates functioned as game counters since the rim created through hammering could protect the designs. Andreas Alföldi in Die Kontorniaten (Budapest, 1943) believed proto-contorniates to be forerunners of the contorniates of the fourth and fifth centuries. He argued that proto-contorniates were New Year's gifts and that the older coins were actually hammered in the fourth century before the contorniates proper came into being.

Colonia Agrippinensis mint. DIVO VICTORINO PIO, radiate head to right / CONSECRATIO, eagle standing to right on globe, head to left, with wreath in beak. RIC V.2 83 var. (bust type); RIC V.4 638; Elmer 785. 3.00gr, 17mm, 11h.

Very Fine.

Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.