GALLA PLACIDIA GOLD SOLIDUS – RARE VINCENNALIA ISSUE OF ROME – CHOICE AU NGC GRADED WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE COIN (Inv. 20340)

SOLD

20340. WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE. GALLA PLACIDIA, AD 421–450.
Gold Solidus, 4.47 g, 21 mm. Vincennalia issue of Rome, AD 425/6.
Obv. D N GALLA PLACIDIA P F AVG, diademed and draped bust of Galla Placidia right, Chi–Rho ornament on shoulder, the hand of God (Manus Dei) above, crowning her. Rev. VOT XX MVLT XXX, Victory standing left, holding jeweled cross, star above, R–M (Rome) in fields, CONOB in exergue.
RIC X, 2007 (rarity R2); Depeyrot 45/2.
NGC graded CHOICE AU, Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, “flan flaw,” a rare early emission of Galla Placidia struck at the mint of Rome, using the Vincennalia type referring loosely to the reign of Theodosius II. The coinage in the name of Placidia was struck at Rome only from 425 to February 426, after which the court moved to Ravenna.

Galla Placidia was the daughter of Theodosius I and quite likely the most influential empress of Late Antiquity. She was first married to a Gothic king and subsequently to the emperor Constantius III with whom she had the future emperor Valentinian III. She served as regent for Valentinian until AD 437 when he reached maturity. A devout Christian and great patron of the faith, she commissioned several important churches in Ravenna and elsewhere. For an excellent book discussing her fascinating life and legacy see Hagith Sivan, Galla Placidia – the Last Roman Empress (2011).