Modern Silver Pendant with Constantine II Follis (No reserve price)

ITEM: Modern pendant with Constantine II Follis
MATERIAL: Silver and bronze
CULTURE: Roman
PERIOD: 4th Century A.D
DIMENSIONS: 20 mm diameter
CONDITION: Good condition. Original coin within a modern handmade circular silver setting.
PROVENANCE: Ex Belgian private collection, acquired in the 1990s (Coin)

Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.

COIN DESCRIPTION: Constantine II (Caesar, 317-337) AE Follis (Bronze, 3.14g, 19mm) Thessalonika Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right. Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around VOT V within wreath. Mintmark TSBVII. Ref: RIC 100

The subject of Constantine II must be the Roman Emperor who ruled from 337 to 340 CE, as he is the primary historical figure with that name during the Roman Imperial period. Constantine II was the eldest son of Constantine the Great and his second wife, Fausta. Born in 316 CE, he was raised as a privileged member of the Constantinian dynasty, which had reunified and reoriented the Roman Empire. Like his brothers, he was granted the title of Caesar at a young age and was given administrative responsibility for the western part of the empire, including Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania, even during his father's lifetime. This early experience was part of Constantine the Great's strategy to train his sons in governance and ensure a stable, dynastic succession, a major break from earlier Roman imperial norms.

Following the death of Constantine the Great in 337 CE, the empire was officially partitioned among his three surviving sons: Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans. Although the three brothers initially met and agreed upon the division—which included a violent purge of other male relatives—Constantine II claimed a right to pre-eminence based on his seniority and his father’s original disposition of the territories. He initially controlled the far west, while Constans received Italy, Africa, and Illyricum, and Constantius II took the East. However, Constantine II became dissatisfied with his allocation, feeling he deserved more and was entitled to act as the senior emperor to his younger brothers, especially Constans.

This resentment and ambition led to a fateful military conflict. In 340 CE, Constantine II marched his army from Gaul into Italy, encroaching upon Constans' territory. Constans responded by sending a mobile force that ambushed his brother near Aquileia in northeastern Italy. Constantine II was killed in the engagement, marking a swift and violent end to his three-year reign. His death left the western provinces in the hands of his younger brother, Constans, and significantly destabilized the arrangement for imperial co-rule established by their father. The conflict underscores the enduring difficulties of dynastic succession and power-sharing that plagued the later Roman Empire, even after its adoption of Christianity.