Constantius III, AR half siliqua. 421 AD, 14mm, 0.94 gr. Uncertain mint in Gaul.

DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
VICTORIA ROMANORVM, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm
Mintmark: SMN.
DOC 816; Cohen 3 var.

Extremely rare.

Although P. Grierson/M. Mays (DOC p. 225 and p. 297) and J.P.C. 
Kent (RIC X, p. 135f.) doubts the authenticity of these very
rare half siliquae of Constantius III, he was confusing genuine coins with a fake by L. Cigois (L. 
Brunetti, Opus Monetale Cigoi, 349), with a Ravenna
mintmark and of a totally different style. Grierson and Mays 
admit that the same dies as our coin were known as early as 1680, although they state that SMN can only mean Nicomedia 
which was not used by Constantius III. However, since then two other 5th century Gallic mints have been determined: Narbo (Narbonne) and Nicaea (Nice) which used the letter N in their mintmarks (cf. RIC X, 
1417 corr. and Lanz, Auction 92, 1226 for Priscus Attalus, 
and RIC X, 1544 for Constantinus III. This would therefore
be a good argument for SMN being the mintmark for Narbonne,
especially because Constantius III made Narbonne the town of central government for this province. 

Contributed by Dr. Hubert Lanz, auction November 2000, 
Added July 2011.