Constantine I

Welcome Mrs TJ to ancient coin collection. Very nice coin for your first ancient.

A great starter coin - beautiful green patina.

And its even blurred out Genius' privates for you!

Very nice indeed! I like the style too.

Very nice first coin. Awesome ruler Mrs. TJ.

I don't have this in Constantine but offer for comparison this Licinius. Note how the portraits are more than a little similar. I do not know if the die cutter would ever have seen either guy or if there is some better explanation for this other than portraits were not as much realistic as they were formal.

Mrs. TJsCoins, What a nice start to Ancients, well centered, nice details a a lite green patina, ... to Ancients and I can't wait to see what Mr. TJsCoins got for Christmas too...

This is why I like coins and why most people ignore my boring posts. There is a lot we don't know and more that we are unsure as to details. RIC ignores mention of things they don't know. Failmezger (a strange book I find useful which has great photos if I did take them myself ) suggested KP might be K=20 (Greek numeral) and P pondus (weight) so it is a denomination or standards mark. Near that time there are coins with PR (Pondus Restitutum); XK (perhaps 10:20) All this leave me unconvinced but Victor was willing to put guesses properly disclaimed in his book which is better than ignoring it as did RIC. I suspect he is right that they are value marks but I'm not clear on the details. Short answer: We don't know for sure.

This KP issue was done for seven rulers in three sections. My coin is given first in RIC and has no extra symbol in the field. Your wife's coin is last with the crescent which they point out started before Galerius died but continued after (making the ones in his name with that symbol less numerous). In the middle there is a more scarce set with a star in place of the crescent. Diocletian got in on the act in his rank of retired Augustus. I don't have the set but I'll attach a couple here for your attributing pleasure.

Here is where people get in trouble cataloging their coins by ruler when they were issued as a group by all the then current people in power (active, Caesars, retired and a wife). When you lay all the coins out together, some things make sense. Remember we are talking about Alexandria mint here and all the other mints were busy doing things their way which is not the same as this. US collectors who assume the same exact coin with an S, D, O, CC or whatever often miss the point when we talk about ancients of this period.

In the name of Our Lord the Most Blessed Diocletian

Galerius matching my Licinius (sorry I don't have one with a star to show)


As first coins go, your wife got a good one. If I saw it for a fair price, I'd buy it without question. As the new guy in town and not really all that favored by the senior powers, Constantine's coins of this issue are less numerous and could be worth more to specialists than coins like my Galerius and Licinius. I hope your coin is equally nice and equally interesting. You know I am not a fan of RIC numbers and rarity ratings but see if you agree hers is RIC 140 page 682 (Scarce). It dates to 311 AD just following the death of Galerius.

Not wanting to scare you but... I know relatively few women collectors but the ones I do know tend to be better at it (more organized, smarter?). I hope next year she asks you for a set of RIC for her birthday.