CONSTANTINE II, as Caesar AD 317-337

AE3. 2.23g, 18.5mm

MINTED: Lugdunum (Lyons) mint, AD 322 REF: RIC VII Lyons 205 OBVERSE: D N CONSTANTINO IVN N C, laureate head right.

REVERSE: BEATA TRAN-QVILLITAS, globe on altar inscribed VOT-IS-XX, three stars above; PLG in exergue. 

Notes:

Somewhat worn, struck on an oval flan with slightly rough surfaces.  Nevertheless, identifiable, with a striking, deep blue-green surfaces, and an excellent accompanying pedigree. 

Provenance: 

Ex Baron Louis Chaurand (1913-2010) Collection

Historical Notes:

Raised to be a soldier, Constantine Junior was accompanying his father on military campaigns when he was just seven years old, and by the time he was fifteen, he was named magister militum (commander of the army) on the battle field while Constantine was fighting the Goths.  When Constantine the Great died in AD 337, his three surviving sons divided the empire amongst themselves.  Constantine Junior, the eldest, received the provinces of Spain, Britain, and Gaul.  He was, however, not pleased with his own share of the inheritance and was soon invading the territories of his youngest brother, Constans.  In AD 340, near Aquileia, an advance party of Constan's troops caught Constantine by surprise and he was killed in the fighting.