CRISPUS, Caesar
AD 317-326
AE3. 3.41g, 20.3mm
MINTED: Siscia mint, AD 317
REF: RIC VII Siscia 39 (R3)
OBVERSE: CRISPVS NOB CAESAR, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: PRINCIPIA-IVVENTVTIS, Crispus, helmeted, in military dress, standing right, holding reversed spear, hand on shield resting on ground, cloak spread on both sides; ЄSIS in exergue.

Grade/Notes:
Very Fine. Deep, forest green patina.
 
Historical Notes:
Crispus was born between 299 and 305.  He was the son of Constantine the Great, by Minervina, who was either Constantine's first wife or his concubine. Crispus was already given command of his own troops while a teenager, and he campaigned alongside his father in the civil wars of the Tetrarchs.  It was Crispus who led a fleet of 200 ships to victory against Constantine's last rival for sole imperial power, Licinius I, at the  Battle of the Hellespont in 324.  The dashing young prince was wildly popular with the people and soldiers, perhaps to an extent that made his own father wary of him.  Sometime in 326, for reasons still debated by scholars today, but possibly connected to an affair or intrigue with his stepmother Fausta, Constantine put his eldest son on trial for treason and proceeded to have him executed.