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Lot 142
Rome. Licinius I, 308-324 AD. Gold Solidus (5.31 g), Nicomedia mint, struck 321-322 AD. Facing draped and cuirassed bust of bearded Licinius. Reverse: On high dais, Jupiter enthroned facing, holding scepter and Victory, who crowns him, eagle at his feet; IOVI CONS LICINI AVG; within dais, SIC X / SIC XX in two lines; SMN, gamma in exergue. RIC 41; C. 128; Vagi 3005; Fr-821. Very lustrous, with exceptional military portrait and remarkable image of Jupiter. Very rare. NGC graded Choice Uncirculated.
Licinius came from a peasant background and rose to power through his military ability and connections. He was close to Galerius, who raised him to Augustus in 308 AD. Upon Galerius' death in 311, associate Augustus Maximinus II Daia moved quickly to shut Licinius out of most of the territories left him by Galerius. Licinius then allied himself with Constantine in order to protect himself against Galerius. After another rival Augustus, Maxentius, was eliminated, Licinius married into Constantine's family as a further safety precaution. Eventually the warring rival Augusti were reduced to Constantine and Licinius, both of whom knew that the Empire could have only one master. Their co-reign endured for 11 years, and involved two costly civil wars. The final conflict between the two ended in 324 with Licinius being totally defeated and surrendering himself to Constantine. Constantine the Great had him and his son executed the following year.
Licinius struck this coin to honor the quinquennalia of his son, Licinius II. Frontal coin portraits, always rare in the Roman series, appear all the more interesting in this period of late and changing art styles. The stark, almost glaring face of Licinius confronts the viewer with a military fierceness rarely seen before. This is made all the more unsettling by his plump features, thin neck beard, and delicate mustache above the small, almost sensuous lips.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 24,000.
Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 55.
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