Bermondsey Coins
Roman Imperial, Valens, gold nine siliqua (1.5 scripulum), Milan (?) mint, extremely rare
Roman Imperial, Valens, gold nine siliqua (1.5 scripulum), Milan (?) mint, extremely rare
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Roman Imperial, Valens, gold nine siliqua (1.5 scripulum), Milan (?) mint, c. 367 AD. His draped and curiassed bust right/Victory seated right inscribing shield supported by genius, mintmark C[O?]M below. 15 mm, 1.62 g.
The nine siliqua is one of the rarest of all Roman coin denominations. It was equivalent to 3/8 of a solidus, and seems to have been designed principally to be given out as a donative. The few examples which turn up usually show signs of having been mounted.
The attribution of this coin is as of yet uncertain, but it is not the issue of Antioch known for this type. The mintmark of Milan would presumably have read COM for the issue (as on the nine siliqua of Gratian) so this seems the most likely attribution, especially given the French findspot.
VF, ex-jewellery, surface marks. Excessively rare, perhaps the only example known.
RIC - (cf. 26, same type for Antioch but with different obverse legend and mintmark)
ex-Heritage Auctions (Dallas, Texas), auction 3098 (18 January 2022), lot 333244; from an old French collection, a gift of a M. Bolzoie on 20 December 1923, who found it "behind the canal on the heights where the strawberry farm was built".
The provenance information is fortunately included in the Heritage catalogue as being recorded on an old ticket, which unfortunately has since been lost !
