Chi Rho - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 4,052
Doucet Pillar of the Community United States 1315 Posts	Posted 02/02/2012 11:28 pm I have this coin with the Chi Rho symbol in left field. It was minted at Arles between 330-337AD probably toward the later part of that period (LRBC) along with the Gloria Exercitvs one standard issue. I was wondering if this symbol was used on any earlier issues of late roman coins, or were these the first with the Chi Rho symbol. In searching I found this info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rh...e.27s_vision Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-222 BC Do you think Constantine got the image from a vision or did he get it from the coin above or perhaps the Greek use of the image. What is the meaning of the image on the Ptolemy III coin? Do you know of any other Greek coins with the Chi Rho? Thanks Report this Post to the Staff

Sap Moderator Australia 16873 Posts	Posted 02/03/2012 12:42 am The chi-ro is a monogram and, just like any other monogram, most fundamentally it "means" the letters that form it. In this case, "ChR". The next question becomes, what do those letters stand for? We know that "Chr" in the Christian / Late Roman Imperial / Byzantine context stands for "Christ". But we don't know what most of the monograms on Greek coins actually stand for, in terms of the word or name that's supposed to be abbreviated. Records of mint official's names simply have not survived. But it's reasonable to assume it was someone whose name began with "Chr". The Greek word "chrysos" means "gold"; the name possibly had that as it's root. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
jessvc1 Pillar of the Community United States 2596 Posts	Posted 02/03/2012 05:26 am Thats a nice commemorative you have there. I have been meaning to get one too and a chi rho wolf and twins. Excellent find! Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 02/03/2012 1:21 pm Here is some in-depth reading on the Chi-Rho symbol in the context of Constantine I and coins. Here's an interesting excerpt from this book, showing how the Chi-Rho is used interchangeably with other symbols. Edited by DVCollector 02/03/2012 1:32 pm Report this Post to the Staff
dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 02/03/2012 10:27 pm Before it was taken by Christians the Chi Rho was used to indicate chrÄ"ston or good. Like the Christian fish symbol, it was the sort of thing that might be seen by outsiders and not draw undo attention. Report this Post to the Staff
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