128, Lot: 414. Estimate $1500. Sold for $2450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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MARTINIAN. 324 AD. Æ Follis (21mm, 2.36). Nicomedia mint. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe, and sceptre; flanked by eagle, with wreath in beak, and bound captive, seated right; X/IIG/SMNB. RIC VII 45. Near VF, brown patina, some roughness. Extremely rare.
During his war with Constantine, Licinius appointed his
magister officiorum, Martinian, as his co-emperor. The new Augustus was then deployed to Lampsacus to impede Constantine's army as it crossed the Hellespont. After his defeat, Martinian was imprisoned in Cappadocia, where he was later executed on Constantine's orders.