Constantine The Great - His Life Seen Through His Coins

Thank you @Palouche, glad you enjoy the thread! And thank you and @Novicius for the Helenas, they are both real nice examples. It is interesting that her hair style seems to vary a bit between mints - I wonder what they had to base the portrait on?

Another relative now:

Coin #12:

323 AD, Lugdunum (1st officina). 3.2 g, 19 mm. RIC 216.
Obv: Crispus, Constantine's first son, laureate, draped, cuirassed.
FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
Rev: Laurel wreath, VOT X.
CAESARVM NOSTRORVM | VOT X (Our Emperors' Vows for the 10th)



Crispus was Constantine's first son and was made caesar in 317 at the same time as his brother Constantine II and Licinius's son Licinius II. About five years into their reign it was time for their 10 year vows and VOTA coins were minted for all three caesars. 326 AD, the year the vows were to be fulfilled, was however an unfortunate year for Crispus. Following allegations of misconduct with his stepmother Fausta, Constantine had his own son Crispus executed. Fausta was to meet the same fate, but more about that in my next post.

Ok, thanks @maridvnvm, that is good information. The paper seems to deal mostly with Sol coins; for unsigned Mars coins like RIC 885 it shows strong evidence for minting also in Aquileia (die match with a signed coin), for the other mints I think it is more open-ended.

Coin #13:

326 AD, Treveri (2nd officina). 3.5 g, 18 mm. RIC 483.
Obv: Fausta, Constantine's second wife.
FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG
Rev: Salus (or Fausta?), standing holding two children.
SALVS REIPVBLICAE (Welfare of the State)



Constantine married emperor Maximian's daughter Fausta in 307 to seal the bonds of power within the tetrarchy. For this he had to divorce his first wife, Minervina, with whom he had his first son, Crispus. In 324, shortly after the downfall of Licinius and Constantine becoming sole emperor, Fausta was made augusta. As for Constantine's mother Helena, who was also made augusta soon after, coins were minted for Fausta. On her coins, she was associated with Salus (goddess of welfare, health and prosperity) or Spes (goddess of hope). On the coins, Salus/Spes is depicted holding two children, and it can be interpreted as showing Fausta as a living personification of the goddesses, holding two of her children with Constantine (which ones of the five they had is unclear). In any event, she represented the future of the Constantinian dynasty and thus the (bright) future of Rome.

Her own future was not too bright, however. Exactly what happened in 326 is not clear and is poorly documented. According to some accounts Fausta accused Crispus, Constantine's son with his first wife, of having approached her inappropriately. Constantine, holding Fausta in very high esteem, then had Crispus executed. When the allegations were found to be false - speculations are that Fausta wanted Crispus out of the way in favor of her own sons - he had Fausta executed too.

Ok - and thanks for sharing the coin!

Sorry for my late responses but.... I might take a while catching up with the thread.

Hairstyle can vary within a mint too.

Here is a different hairstyle to the Trier examples above



I must admit that I like the Alexandrian style

@maridvnvm: Thanks for the nice Helenas - yes, I have noticed that hair style largely seems to be a function of mint. Trier favored the one on my coin, but that style doesn't seem to have been used elsewhere that much. (And there's no hurry posting, the thread will stay open. )

@Novicius: Still a nice coin!

What are the turrets? Signal beacons is one idea. I recently read a paper that discusses various possibilities (without stating it is one or the other; available online in a couple of places):
Lorinc Timár: City gate or watchtower? Turret or signal beacon? An obscure detail on some Late Roman coins, Numismatica Pannonica II, Hungarian Numismatic Society, Budapest 2020.

Whether the layers have any significance, I don't know.

Another campgate today:

Coin #15:

329 AD, Arelate (1st officina). 3.0 g, 20 mm. RIC 337.
Obv: Constantine I, diademed.
CONSTANTINVS AVG
Rev: Military camp gate with four turrets, beneath a star.
VIRTVS AVG[G] (last G left out) (To the Virtue/Strength of the Augustii)



A type with similarities to the PROVIDENTIAE AVGG. Here it is the strength and/or virtue of the emperors that is celebrated (as discussed in a previous post, virtus is a wide concept covering several desirable qualities). First issued in 318, for both Constantine and Licinius (and caesares). From 325 issued for Constantine (and his sons) and with a star above.

It is also around 324-25 that Constantine begins wearing a diadem instead of a laurel wreath on his coins (although the laurel wreath continues to be used as well). The diadem was worn by Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kings as a sign of their position. Constantine, now having united Rome under one ruler and moving the center of the empire to the East, with Constantinople as its new capital, may have wanted to associate himself with the former rulers of the wide Hellenistic world, also with its center in the East. Perhaps it was also a step away from association with the Roman gods, the laurel wreath being an important attribute of Apollo. The conclusion of the Council of Nicaea in 325, called upon by Constantine to unite the different views that had developed in different parts of Christianity, may also have played a role in Constantine's view of himself as creating a world wide unified Christianity (and stepping away from the old gods).

Note:
Arles/Arelate was named Constantina 328-40, after Constantine's son Constantine (II) who was born in the city in 316 (thus the mintmark PCONST on this coin). At the age of 10 he was made commander of Gaul where he probably defeated German tribes, possibly in 328.

Rare Denominationally Marked

Adding to this topic: This coin was minted at Rome about 311-312 and has been called a half follis because of the date and size. I posted pics of it back in 2017. 18mm and 1.8 grams.

This is one of the very few Roman coins of the period that actually showed the denomination of the actual value of the coin in "denarii communes". VII. This was just before the huge inflation of Roman coinage started that ultimately resulted in their monetary collapse. Bronze coins of the Constantine era were used very similarly to our paper money is used today.

Obverse: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS AVG; Laureate, cuirassed, right facing bust of Constantine.

Reverse: PACI P-ERPET; Pax standing facing, head left, right hand holding branch, left holding standard; RS in exergue, XII in left field.

You can find it in RIC VI on page 391.

Coin #17:

335-36 AD, Arelate (2nd officina). 1.9 g, 16 mm. RIC 401.
Obv: Constantinopolis, laureate, helmeted.
CONSTANTINOPOLIS
Rev: Victory on prow, holding scepter or spear.



In 330 AD the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople, was consecrated. It had been built over six years, on the initiative of Constantine who felt that Rome was located too far from where the action was: The frontiers, the army, the wealth and sophistication of the East and Asia. Also, the strategic position at the Bosphorus, guarding the port to Asia and the strait between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, was unsurpassed. So that was where the imperial court should reside.

Moving the capital from Rome, having had that role for more than a thousand years, was no small thing of course. Naturally coins were minted to commemorate the event: One for Constantinople and one for old Rome, which was still an important city (I will show that coin next). All mints emitted the coins, beginning in 330 and continuing into the 340s.

The Constantinople coins show the personification of the city, Constantinopolis, dressed in military attire. The reverse shows the goddess Victory standing on the prow of a ship, holding a scepter (or is it a spear?) and a shield. A common interpretation is that this symbolizes the naval victory at the Hellespont in 324 which was pivotal in Constantine's final military campaign against Licinius.

This also happens to be one of few coins by Constantine that has a Christian symbol on it: The XP (Chi-Rho) in front of Victory. XP is a short form of the Greek name for Christ, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. Its appearance here is not a statement by Constantine though, it is merely a mintmark, possibly put there by a Christian mint master or celator. Constantine was cautious about using overtly Christian symbols, as he did not want to repel any important groups (like for instance the mostly pagan army).