Nepotian (Usurper) BI 25mm. Rome, 3rd-30th June AD 350. FL NEP CONSTANTINVS AVG, laurel and rosette diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VRBS ROMA, Roma seated to left on throne, holding Victory on globe and spear; shield at side; RЄ in exergue. RIC VIII 203; LRBC 644. 5.76g. 25mm, 7h.

Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare and one of the finest examples of the type to come to auction.

From a private North American collection.

In the midst of the chaos and infighting which ensued after the death of Constantine I ‘the Great’, Nepotian’s reign lasted only twenty-eight days. The son of Constantine I’s half-sister, and grandson of Emperor Constantius Chlorus, Nepotian proclaimed himself emperor at Rome in AD 350 following the revolt of Magnentius in the west against Constans. He gathered a band of gladiators to kill Titianus, the praetorian prefect who Magnentius had charged with the governance of Italy, but in turn was swiftly killed by the troops of Magnentius’ general Marcellinus, who was sent to deal with the usurper. The brevity of his reign ensured the rarity of his coinage, and this particularly fine example celebrating the city in which he briefly assumed power recalls the propaganda of Maxentius, another usurper who based himself in Rome from AD 306-312.