Staying in the earlier part of the collection, here is another solidus of a Late Roman "Lady", Justa Grata Honoria (426-450), the daughter of Constantine III and brother of Valentinian III.  As I said last month, the "ladies" of the Late Roman Empire (330-478) are especially attractive to me.  Once again this piece demonstrates her wealth and position in society with all of the Pearl jewelry that she is wearing.  Secondly, notice the "Hand of God" placing a crown on her head and the Cross on her shoulder.  The ladies of the Late Roman/Byzantine empires were generally much more openly religious than their male counterparts.  Also, there was a feeling through out the history of the Late Roman/Byzantine Empire that the Emperor (and his family) was divinely selected and therefore, God's representative on Earth.

This piece was made between 430 and 445, with my personal beliefs that it was struck in the early part of that date range.  The purpose of this coinage was to signify her position in the government, as a co-ruler.  With her brother Valentinian III being an extremely weak ruler, his mother Galla Placidia and Justa Grata Honoria were really the rulers of the western empire during this time period.  This piece weighs 4.42g and is RIC Volume 10, Number 2022 with a rarity factor of R3.  As of 1996, there were only 31 specimens known, of which more than half were impounded in museums! (Depeyrot, 1996, p. 191, item 15/1)  This specimen, while technically mint state, would be graded as XF with slight weakness of strike effecting some of the high spots on both sides.

The flan splits that are noticeable on many or most of the gold coinage of this time period from the Western mints (Ravenna, Rome, Aquilea) show that the coins were generally struck on cold flans.  While this technique is the standard for Bronze and some silver production, this is the only period that I am aware of that used this process for gold coinage.  Finding specimens with minimal flan cracks, such as this piece, is a real challenge.