VALENS
AD 364-378AR Siliqua. 1.59g, 18.2mm
MINTED: Trier mint, AD 367-378
REF: RIC IX Trier 27eOBVERSE: DD N VALEN-S P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: VRBS ROMA, Roma seated left on throne, holding crowning Victory on globe and scepter; TRPS• in exergue.
Grade/Notes:
Good Very Fine/Very Fine. Nicely toned and well-centered. Slightly worn reverse die, but bold portrait.
Provenance:
Ex Michael Kelly Collection
Historical Notes:
Valens was made co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, and governed the eastern provinces. He contended ineffectually against the Sassanid empire in the east as well as a flow of Gothic refugees encroaching into Roman territory. This latter affair eventually resulted in a war against a huge confederation of Gothic tribes, Ostrogoths, Huns and Alans. At the disastrous Battle of Adrianople in 378, two-thirds of the eastern Roman army was destroyed and Valens himself killed.
