Constantine II Hereclea Campgate - Smhg

yup, nice one been.

My first proper ancient coin was an SMHA campgate. Its quite early in Constantines Reign. I've seen hundreds of them, at least a few engraved by the same man, but I havent found the match yet. This is much more like the normal heraclea campgate... Mine is actually a bit of an odd design similar to other mints in the region. Whilst looking through many campgates from many mints, I've spied some awfully similar dies from different mints. I reckon they had a celator exchange program of some type.

Also, design features crop up many years apart. Its clear that groups are taught by a senior and the style continued. Its a very fluid transition. When major design changes come into effect, the transition is much faster - but thelarge bust Constantines do look a lot like the more modern Constantine II (hair and jaw line are maintained). But, interestingly, the left facing bust is completely different to the right - clearly, the celators were trained to engrave dies in a single direction and couldnt switch.

Any right facing Heraclea campgate, basically. Particular emphasis on SMHA.

Heres the coin I'm looking to match, this picture from near the end of its cleaning: