VALENTINIAN II AD 375-392

AE2. 5.19g, 24.1mm

MINTED: Antioch mint, AD 378-388 REF: RIC IX Antioch 40b

OBVERSE: DN VALENTINIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted, draped and cuirassed bust right, shield in left hand, spear pointing forward in right hand. REVERSE: GLORIA RO-MANORVM, emperor standing facing in galley sailing left steered by Victory, right hand raised; wreath in left field, cross in right, ANTЄ in exergue.

Notes:

A beautiful full-sized AE2, perfectly centered and with an eye-appealing desert patina. 

Historical Notes:

Valentinian was 4 years of age when his father, Valentinian I, died in AD 375 and senior army officers decided to raise him to the purple.  He co-ruled with his elder brother, Gratian and an uncle, Valens, but by AD 383 both of them were also dead.  Young Valentinian never exercised much imperial power himself, and was mostly under the thumb of his mother or co-emperors like Theodosius.  In AD 392, the 21-year old Valens apparently hung himself in his home.  He was possibly murdered by Theodosius's Frankish general, Arbogast.