Smackdown VII - Constantine I

Okay, I have very little choice here, but this is one of my favourite coins anyway (and my only constantine I...):
This doesn't depict constantine, but its one of his coins. If it doesn't count, then so be it.




Constantine the Great, Ciy commemorative of Rome.

Legend: VRBS ROMA. Depicts roma on obverse, and Romulus and Remus on the reverse.

despite its bad condition, I love it because of how clear romulus and remus and lupa are.

Here is my entry. I had a hard time choosing which one. I really think you should consider allowing two coins for this emperor.



Divus Constantine AE4. 337-340 AD. DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG, veiled head right / Constantine in quadriga right, the hand of God, upper center, grasping the chariot, CONS in ex. RIC VIII Constantinopolis 37

I have a lot so it may take a little time to choose the right one.

Bobbyhelmet: I want to throw my vote in for two coins per contestant. My reasoning is that there are so many great coins of Constantine I, by your count 300,000,000 struck. It seems a shame that we limit what can be shown. One of the purposes of this competition is to show off the great coins we all have in our collections. It's awful hard to ween it down to just one coin. I'm awaiting your decision.

I'd prefer that I could remember which of my coins I have shown before so I could pick something someone might like to see when the topic is wide open as Constantine. He has a lot of coins and many of the ones I have are more rare than nice or more nice than rare. Both would be nice for this purpose. This one is RIC common but not one you see every day. It was issued in autumn 307 at Rome under Maxentius honoring the recognition as Constantine as Caesar while mints under control of Constantine elevated him to Augustus. The same type exists for Maxentius and Maximianus (his father) with both being RIC scarce. It was not issued for the Eastern Emperor Galerius who was at that time in open warfare with Maxentius and Maximianus. I suspect the reason for the coins of Constantine being more common is that the M&M team was trying to court his support against Galerius. As it worked out, Galerius was defeated by mutiny among his troops so Constantine's direct support was not needed. I still don't see how there would have been enough Caesar coins issued to rate a common issue. There are also Constantine Augustus coins of this series but they are rated scarce. I'm wondering if this might be a case where the RIC ratings were skewed by a find being split up among the reporting museums rather than evidence that there are a really enough of these to be called common.

Constantine I as Caesar issued under Maxentius at Rome AE1 follis
RIC vol VI, page 376, #196 Roma seated in temple with plain pediment
CONSERVATORES VRB SVAE R*Q (all these are shop 4)

The cutters of this portrait probably had never seen Constantine since he was deployed far from Rome. I always liked the nose.

You would think by now that I would have learned how to take desent pictures, but that's not the case. Anyway the coins look much better in hand. Here are my to entries.







IMP CONSTANTINVS AVG
IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG
palm in left field
S in right field
SMN (Nicomedia mint)
RIC VII Nicomedia 23





CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG
GLORIA EXERCITVS
CONSH (Constantinople mint)
RIC VII CONSTANTINOPLE 59

Constantine the Great Ae Follis
Obv:-- CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:- SOLI INVIC-TO COMITI, Sol standing left holding globe in left hand and raising right
Minted in Lugdunum (F | T / PLC).
Reference:-- RIC VI Lugdunum -. Bastien -.

This is currently the only known example with this particular bust and obverse legend for this type for this issue at Lugdunum and was completely unknown to Bastien and does not appear in any of the Bastien Supplements. It is hoped that it will be included in the next Bastien Supplement.



Martin