Roman Coins Of The London Mint: 296-325 Ad

Just got the coin today! A really nice piece you sent me. Thank you very much!
By looking at your website, I found out it was RIC VII, London, Helena, No. 299. I knew she had something to do with Constantine the Great so I then checked Wikipedia. Is the Helena on my coin Constantine's daughter?

JangoFett:
I am glad you liked the coin. Yes, it does depict Helena (Flavia Julia Helena) who was the wife of Constantius and the mother of Constantine. She was one of the great ladies of the Roman Empire. She was undoubtably one of the first Imperial converts to Christianity -- certainly the first to make a pilgrimage to Jeruselum - and was greatly instrumental in influencing her son, Constantine, to embrace Christianity. She was eventually invested as a Saint by all of the major Christian denominations and is often referred to as St. Helena (or Helen) in historical documents.


RIC Vol VII, London, No.299 (similar) - Killingholme Hoard
Obverse: Helena diademed bust right - FL HELENA AVGVSTA
Reverse: Securitas standing left - SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE


Reference: Wikepedia - The Roman Empress Helena

James

Oops I realize now I didn't see the right Helena at the bottom of Constantine I's infobox

Fascinating to learn how much Helena affected Christianity, and the effect she still has today.
So much history can be learned from these coins!

Again, a big thanks to you James. Your generosity knows no bounds!

I am glad you liked the coin, Ian. What a contrast Fausta was to her mother in-law, Helena! She was the second wife of Constantine (his first wife bore him one son -- Crispus) and bore him three future Emperor sons: Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans. She was also the daughter of the old retired (although he couldn't stay in retirement) Seniore Augustus MAXIMIAN HERCULIUS (Maximianus) who offered her in marriage to Constantine in order to further his own ambitions. She subsequently betrayed her father when he plotted to overthrow Constantine which led him to commit suicide. She accused Crispus, Caesar and son of Constantine, of attempting to seduce her which led to his execution by order of his father. She later recanted her story which led to her own execution in a most grizzly way (either by boiling in water alive or scalding in boiling water depending on the source) by the order of Constantine. By any measure, Fausta was quite a Gal!.



RIC Vol VII, London, No.300 (similar) - Killingholme Hoard
Obverse: Fausta bust right - FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG
Reverse: Fausta holding two infant sons (Constantine II and Constantius II) - SALVS REIPVBLICAE


James

If nothing else the Romans had interesting personal lives!

The bit that shocked me the most was that she was betrothed to Constantine by Maximianus in 293 aged 4! Constantine still went on to marry Minervina in 303 and father Crispus but when Fausta was about 18 he ditched Minervina and married her. Wasn't aware of these timelines until today.

Also read some interesting stuff claiming Constantine II was prob illegitimate. It would make some sense, having been with Fausta for about 8 years and not producing a second heir Constantine may have felt the pressure to produce and 'looked elsewhere'. It would also explain why some sources have Constantine II and Constantius IIs birth dates as Feb and August of the same year.

I must say it often puzzles me when Christians identify with Constantine as for the overwhelming majority of his life his actions were far from what we would consider Christian.

What do you think of this one James?

17b Galerius Maximian?



9.11gs 28mm

Difficult to tell from pictures but seems to be quite lot of silvering left. Reverse stamp is weak in places but the obverse looks excellent.

My heads spinning now! I looked at your links from yesterday including the academic paper and even scanned through the Bastien PDF but must admit my schoolboy French is not really upto the job.

Unfortunately some of the pics in the ancient.info thread are either no longer available or not available to non-members, I think I got all of the main facts though, it was a very detailed discussion!


As far as the above coin goes I have made the following observations (rightly or wrongly):


Large head variety rather than small - proportions would suggest Continental mint.

Long laureate ribbon end across bust - would suggest Continental mint.

Well modelled almost cherubic Genius - Undecided as to implication.

Pronounced horizontal spiral marks on cornucopia - Undecided as to implication.

The lettering I would say is overall Lugdunum but perhaps matches latter issues more than the pre-invasion coinage:

Displays taller more open lettering characteristics - would suggest Continental mint.

Less of a breack on reverse than the "Intermediate Group" - would suggest Continental mint.

B P are S some well executed and some not - Undecided as to implication.

Obv legend show flat topped and bottomed As and Vs - would suggest London mint.

Obv legend shows good size, round O - would suggest London mint.

Rev legend shows flatter Os and uneveness in hieght - would suggest Continental mint.


Despite the above observations I must admit I'm still a little confused - It matches a 17b that maridvnvm posted in the above thread and I think differs enough from your 14b (thought to be 17b) in the same thread. I would say though that perhaps the two different sides on the above coin both tell contrasting stories, even if they are 'grey'.

The obverse text could be London but I think the Bust is continental, the reverse looks continental but not enough for me to say 100%.

If I had to guess between 17 and 14 I would say 17 but not with huge certainty!

Let me know if I'm way off the mark and what your opinion is - I'm thinking about a theory about the above mis-matches but dont want to share it yet, if a all!