VAuctions - It's Where The Auction Is! New auctions every Sunday.- Anonymous Issue during the reign of Constantine, AE 4, 330, Constantinopolis, Officina 5 - RIC VIII, 21 (Item Number : 26509)Auction #89 Now Live! Closes Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 3:00 PM CST 8,247 successful auctions and 62,864 bids since August 2004! You are not logged in Click here to register VAuctions VAuctions Home Search VAuctions Memorized Auctions Manage Auctions View My Feedback Auction Help Official Time 4/2/2006 7:20:16 PM 206 Current Auctions 3 Preview Auctions 30 No Reserve Auctions 176 Reserve Auctions 20 Bids 16 Items with Bids 190 Items with No Bids 0 Buy Now Purchases 977 Auction Views VCoins VCoins Home Search VCoins Registration My Account Register Mailing Lists Auction Home : Roman Coins: Imperial : Auction Detail Auction Detail Anonymous Issue during the reign of Constantine, AE 4, 330, Constantinopolis, Officina 5 - RIC VIII, 21 Item Number : 26509 Auction is Closed Auction Type Standard Current BidUS$320.00 Quantity1 Starting BidUS$1.00 Time Left # of Bids20 (Bid History) EndsSunday, April 02, 2006 3:00:00 PM CDT High Bidderrcbdoc (7) ReferenceZ4104 Sellerbeastcoins (329) (Leave Feedback on Seller) View Seller's Other Auctions LocationNew Berlin, WI, US Mail This Auction to a Friend Accepted Payment MethodsPayPal, Credit Cards, Checks, Money OrdersClick here to visit our VCoins store: Shipping CostsBuyer pays shipping Shipping LimitsWill ship anywhere Ship ViaShip via Buyer's Instructions Times this auction viewed136 Description Estimate: US$ 225 Anonymous Issue during the reign of Constantine, AE 4, 330, Constantinopolis, Officina 5 POP ROMANVS Laureate, draped bust of the Genius of the Roman People left, cornucopia on left shoulder Milvian (?) Bridge with towers at each end surmounted by three round objects CONS / E above, waves and pylons below 14mm, 1.02g RIC VIII, 21; Vagi 3043 Ex Jean Elsen, Auction 85, Lot 398, September 2005 Note: Flan has some corrosion, but overall a nicely struck example with much detail Note: David Vagi asserts this issue has a higher silver content than other billon issues of the same era and were probably distribution pieces for the consecration ceremony at Constantinople. Research Notes: There is still much debate as to which bridge is depicted on the reverse. The traditional identification has been the Milvian Bridge. Here is an engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, "Ponte Milvio" from the 18th century. The Milvian Bridge is where Constantine the Great and Maxentius battled in 312. The bridge is part of the Via Flaminia and spans the Tiber River a few miles north of Rome. It may have originally been constructed of wood in 220 BC, but was rebuilt with stone in 109 BC. Perhaps the bridge at one time did look like the one on the coin. The one standing today only contains parts of the ancient bridge. Take note of the towers on the far end. Those do look similar to the coin, but without the round objects on top, thought possibly to be signal beacons by come numismatists. Here is a photograph of how the Milvian Bridge stands today. Photo courtesy of Roman-Empire So, it seems the bridge still looks similar to what Piranesi engraved in the 18th century. The prominence of the arches are not depicted on the coin, but water flowing under the bridge is. Unless the water height was very high, if this were the bridge on the coin, the structure would be very much out of perspective, if the current bridge is anything like the original. Z4104 Payment:We accept personal checks, money orders, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal. Please allow time for checks to clear. Paypal payments address - beastcoins@vcoins.com For credit card payments, please click here to access the secure web page at the Beast Coins store Postage: Note: All winning bids will be shipped for together for one shipping charge unless specified differently by buyer. Within United States of America: First Class Uninsured - $ 2.50 First Class Insured - $ 5.00 Priority Uninsured - $ 5.00 Priority Insured - $ 7.50 Registered Insured - $ 12.50 Express - $ 27.50 Outside USA: First Class Uninsured - $ 2.50 Global Priority (where available) - $ 5.00 Registered Uninsured (where available) - $12.50 Global Express - $ 27.50 Note: International shipments at buyer's risk. Global Priority not available to Italy from USA. Bidding Relist This Item Anonymous Issue during the reign of Constantine, AE 4, 330, Constantinopolis, Officina 5 - RIC VIII, 21 Item Number : 26509 If you are the owner of this item, you can relist this item by clicking the link below. 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