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ID: |
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33-616 |
| Type: |
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Roman Imperial |
| Issuer: |
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Flavius Victor |
| Date Ruled: |
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AD 387-388
|
| Metal: |
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Gold |
| Denomination: |
|
Solidus |
| Struck / Cast: |
|
struck |
| Date Struck: |
|
AD 387-388 |
| Diameter: |
|
23 mm |
| Weight: |
|
4.48 g |
| Obverse Legend: |
|
DN FL VIC_TOR P F AVG |
| Obverse Description: |
|
Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right |
| Reverse Legend: |
|
BONO REI PV_BLICE NATI |
| Reverse Description: |
|
Two emperors seated facing, the emperor on the right is smaller and the dress covers both legs, holding globe together; above, Behind and between them the upper portion of a Victory with outspread wings; between them below, palm-branch |
| Exergue: |
|
TROB |
| Mint Mark: |
|
TROB |
| Mint: |
|
Trier |
| Primary Reference: |
|
RIC IX 075 |
| Reference2: |
|
Depeyrot 52/3 |
| Reference3: |
|
Kent-Hirmer pl. 181 |
| Reference4: |
|
Cohen 1 |
| Photograph Credit: |
|
Numismatic Ars Classica NAC AG |
| Source: |
|
http://www.arsclassicacoins.com/ |
| Price Sold For: |
|
75000 Swiss Franc |
| Date Sold: |
|
4/6/06 |
| Notes: |
|
NAC Auction 33, Lot 616
Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Extremely fine
Ex Leu sale 52, 1991, 288. This rare solidus is rich with Late Antique imagery and touts a naively bright future for this young prince, who held the empty title of Augustus for about one year before he was executed. Magnus Maximus proclaimed his son Flavius Victor co-emperor sometime in the middle of 387 when he was seizing Italy from the legitimate emperor of the West, Valentinian II (who, at age sixteen, was probably significantly older than his own son). The coinage reflects Flavius Victor’s small stature, indicating not only that he was young, but through a standard iconographic technique demonstrating that he was subordinate to his father. His father was able to oust Valentinian II, but the eastern emperor Theodosius I recruited Alans, Arabs, Goths, Huns, Iberians and Isaurians to join his own standing army on a counter-offensive that brought immediate victory. It is not certain whether Flavius Victor was executed along with his father in Italy, or if he had remained behind in Trier and his fate was postponed. For a rebel in this day and age, Magnus Maximus was remarkably durable. In the first four years of his reign, before he invaded Italy, Magnus Maximus gained some concessions from Theodosius I: his praetorian prefect in Gaul, Evodius, was one of the consuls recognized empire-wide in 386, and some coins struck by Theodosius I acknowledged him. Thus, at the outset of his invasion Magnus Maximus had every reason to be optimistic about the longevity of his regime, hence this spectacular reverse type. The inscription BONO REIPVBLICE NATI, meaning "born for the good of the state," is among the most charming in five centuries of Imperial coinage. The design is most attractive: a Victory with spread wings stands behind the two emperors seated in jeweled opulence, jointly holding a globe symbolizing the world they ruled |
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