The Roman Lion Site - Day 2 - Finished STRONG, like a Lion....

[CRUSADER]

Although we have only done 2 days on here & only covered about 30% of the scatter we needed to hit the best area & move on. As we have lots of fields to cover & not enough time. Nice problem to have but if we had time we would do more of the site.
We named this field after a small votive Roman Lion Statue, & now we have the matching coin! (more about that later)
3 hours & 15 minutes got us;

13 Roman Bronze Coins
17th/18th C Furniture piece (can't work it out!)
18th C Pewter Cuff-link
Mystery Roman Artefact (first I've seen)
1/2 Roman Silver of Elagabalus

The coin with the Lion was such a rare looking coin (in good condition), it cut our hunt a little short as I was keen to find out more. In the RIC volumes its an R3 (4-6 known), although many more must have been found since 1966, I can't find any examples on the web! (if you do, please add a link). Here is more from Cru'Dad;
''After the indecisive Civil War of AD316-7 increased rivalry between Constantine I and Licinius I, Constantine decided to issue a series of ‘pedigree’ coins of 3 Emperors he claimed family connection with. This one is an AD317-8 Half Follis claiming a link to Claudius II Gothicus (who reigned some 50 years previously) — the others were Constantius I (his Father) and Maximian (Father-in-Law). Constantine’s claim to kinship to the popular Claudius II Gothicus is unproven but was accepted at the time!
Obv: DIVO CLAVDIO OPT IMP
Rev: MEMORIAE AETERNAE.''

 

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[Rubka888]

Wow those Romans are in incredible condition! Love the lion coin. You have some sweet land there

 

[Plumbata]

Hah awesome bronze, never heard of them. So the reverse with the club of Hercules above the lion appears to suggest more than mere mortal lineage, did all of this series have the same reverse, or was Claudius Gothicus supposed to have descended from Hercules?

Glad it wasn't one of the crusty damaged coins, I'm happy to see you had a better hunt than the last!

 

[CRUSADER]

Hah awesome bronze, never heard of them. So the reverse with the club of Hercules above the lion appears to suggest more than mere mortal lineage, did all of this series have the same reverse, or was Claudius Gothicus supposed to have descended from Hercules?

Glad it wasn't one of the crusty damaged coins, I'm happy to see you had a better hunt than the last!

The club above, is part of what makes it special, some don't have this. No idea what they were trying to say, other than strength.
I can't remember any other of my coins that has the Lion as the main character & this is one of my fav roman bronze coins in a long time.

 

[CRUSADER]

Wow those Romans are in incredible condition! Love the lion coin. You have some sweet land there

Yes to get 3 out of 13 is a very good result. Last year was a very deep plough, so we are saving these before they get smashed about & killed by chemicals.

 

[Aureus]

Those are some great bronze coins! Congrats!

 

[Westfront]

An absolute killer coin! I can't find much here. Only one is a full Follis without the cub(with the same brownish patina you dig sometimes). Recently in auction with a starting bid of 50Euro.
https://www.kuenker.de/de/archiv/stueck/139315

Congrats!

 

[Plumbata]

Any idea what mint it's from? Under the lion, is it an officina number then the mintmark, maybe Siscia? The lion/club imagery looks rather Hellenistic, definitely not like most late roman bronzes, it would be interesting if it was from a Balkan mint where adding the club seemed like an appropriate aesthetic touch.

 

[CRUSADER]

An absolute killer coin! I can't find much here. Only one is a full Follis without the cub(with the same brownish patina you dig sometimes). Recently in auction with a starting bid of 50Euro.
https://www.kuenker.de/de/archiv/stueck/139315

Congrats!

Thats commemorating Maximianus & not Claudius II Gothicus. Keep looking please

 

[CRUSADER]

Any idea what mint it's from? Under the lion, is it an officina number then the mintmark, maybe Siscia? The lion/club imagery looks rather Hellenistic, definitely not like most late roman bronzes, it would be interesting if it was from a Balkan mint where adding the club seemed like an appropriate aesthetic touch.

Its RS, for ROME.

 

[Westfront]

Thats commemorating Maximianus & not Claudius II Gothicus. Keep looking please

Will do!

 

[JamieD]

Very nice.

This is the best I can do, has a pic of the Claudius gothicus type with the lion right but missing the club (RIC VII Rome 125). It details the version with the club which I think matches yours (RIC VII Rome 122) and suggests there are two examples in the British museum but no pic unfortunately.

Online Coins of the Roman Empire: Browse Collection

 

[CRUSADER]

Very nice.

This is the best I can do, has a pic of the Claudius gothicus type with the lion right but missing the club (RIC VII Rome 125). It details the version with the club which I think matches yours (RIC VII Rome 122) and suggests there are two examples in the British museum but no pic unfortunately.

Online Coins of the Roman Empire: Browse Collection

Exactly right, missing the club. We knew it was special, shortly after Cru'dad dug it & shouted me over. That's why I wanted to get home quicker than normal.

PS. It is the RIC VII Rome 122. (I think)

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[basque-man]

Amazing finds again!!! Very cool!!!

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Whyme]

Again nice finds! Those coins look really cool.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks for all the comments.

I wonder if my Lion coin is better than the 2 known examples in the British Museum?