Constantius II AR Ingot of 1 Roman Pound. Circa AD 337-361. Shaped like a double axe-head with flaring blades, thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges; stamped with an obverse die of Constantius II (D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right); IVLI chiselled above / Blank; large silver plug, adding metal to raise the weight. Manhattan Sale III, 225 (also of Constantius II, and also with IVLI inscribed); for similar double-axe shaped ingots, cf. Collingwood and Wright, The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (1965), 2402.4, p. 30; cf. Guide to the Antiquities of Roman Britain (1964), p. 46, fig. 21.b.4 = BM OA.247; cf. Painter, Two Roman Silver Ingots from Kent, Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 97 (1981), pp. 201-207. 343.45g, 117mm x 63mm (at widest point).
As made. Extremely Rare, one of approximately 50 known such ingots, of which only a very few are in private hands.
From a private European collection.
Text & Provenance: Roma Numismatics Limited Auction 15 of 05.04.2018, lot: 662.
Estimate: 15 000 GBP; Price realized: 20 000 GBP.