Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXI 24-25 Mar 2021
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Constantine I 'the Great' AV Solidus. Nicomedia, AD 335. Rosette-diademed head to right, with uplifted gaze / VICTORIA CONSTANTINI AVG, Victory, wearing long dress, seated to right on cuirass inscribing VOT XXX on shield held by Genius; SMNC in exergue. RIC VII 175; Depeyrot 44/1; Bastien, Donativa, p. 81, g. 4.65g, 22mm, 12h.
Fleur De Coin. Very Rare, and in exceptional condition for the issue.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 98, 12 December 2016, lot 1448 (CHF 28,000);
Ex Aurora Collection, Baldwin's Auctions Ltd - Dmitry Markov Coins & Medals - M&M Numismatics Ltd, The New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014, lot 55 (hammer: USD 27,500);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 34, 24 November 2006, lot 88.
Of Constantine's oft deliberated and admired 'eyes to the heavens' bust type, the early Christian historian and polemicist, Eusebius of Caesarea, stated:
"How deeply his soul was impressed by the power of divine faith may be understood from the circumstance that he directed his likeness to be stamped on the golden coin of the empire with eyes uplifted as in the posture of prayer to God: and this money became current throughout the Roman world". (Life of Constantine, IV.15)
By the time the present specimen was struck, 335, it is widely believed that Constantine had long since converted to Christianity (312 is given as the precise year by various historians including A. H. M. Jones). It had been twenty-five years since his father's loyal troops had declared him Augustus in Eboracum (York), and eleven since he had emerged victorious from the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy to become sole ruler.
Scholars have long contemplated the sincerity of Constantine's conversion, and the theory that it was nothing more than a means of securing unanimous approval and submission to his authority cannot be entirely dismissed. This notion is reinforced by the fact that the bulk of his coinage contains only an indirect allusion to Christianity. Indeed, there are only a few known types that display the 'chi-rho' symbol front-and-centre (see RIC VII 19), with the majority continuing to depict traditional Roman deities (as here). Furthermore, much has been made of Eusebius' acknowledgement that Constantine was not baptized until just before his death (Life of Constantine IV.62.4), which has naturally given rise to the questions: Was it a carefully calculated move, aimed at absolving all of his sins at the last moment? Or, conversely, a concluding political act, a way of reaffirming his apparent Christian virtue for posterity?
The reverse of the present coin underscores the ostensible Roman yearning for more years (thirty to be precise) of Constantine the Great; with Victory, adorned in a ceremonial dress and accompanied by a Genius figure, inscribing VOT XXX on a shield. The arresting uplifted gaze displayed on the obverse was not, despite sometimes thought to be so, a Constintinian invention. In actuality, Greek coins as far back as 400 BC (including many featuring the deified Alexander) exhibit such upward gazes, as had some of the later coinage of Domitian (see RIC II.2 788), which Harold Mattingly contends was evidence of his particularly 'lofty ambitions' (BMCRE II). Diocletian, too, had occasionally employed a subtler version of the portrait type on his coinage (see RIC V 19).
By implementing the portrait type, Constantine was able to cleverly fashion a visual nod to his newfound Christian piety. And, he continued to develop an original image of emperorship by depicting himself as clean-shaven and with combed hair, as seen in this example, in what was a clear break from the robust and overtly masculine soldier portraits that had dominated coinage of the recent decades. Another prominent feature of this portrait, the rosette-diadem, appears to have been pioneering, and was utilised by Constantine and his familial successors as a novel symbol of imperial sovereignty.
Fleur De Coin. Very Rare, and in exceptional condition for the issue.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 98, 12 December 2016, lot 1448 (CHF 28,000);
Ex Aurora Collection, Baldwin's Auctions Ltd - Dmitry Markov Coins & Medals - M&M Numismatics Ltd, The New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014, lot 55 (hammer: USD 27,500);
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 34, 24 November 2006, lot 88.
Of Constantine's oft deliberated and admired 'eyes to the heavens' bust type, the early Christian historian and polemicist, Eusebius of Caesarea, stated:
"How deeply his soul was impressed by the power of divine faith may be understood from the circumstance that he directed his likeness to be stamped on the golden coin of the empire with eyes uplifted as in the posture of prayer to God: and this money became current throughout the Roman world". (Life of Constantine, IV.15)
By the time the present specimen was struck, 335, it is widely believed that Constantine had long since converted to Christianity (312 is given as the precise year by various historians including A. H. M. Jones). It had been twenty-five years since his father's loyal troops had declared him Augustus in Eboracum (York), and eleven since he had emerged victorious from the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy to become sole ruler.
Scholars have long contemplated the sincerity of Constantine's conversion, and the theory that it was nothing more than a means of securing unanimous approval and submission to his authority cannot be entirely dismissed. This notion is reinforced by the fact that the bulk of his coinage contains only an indirect allusion to Christianity. Indeed, there are only a few known types that display the 'chi-rho' symbol front-and-centre (see RIC VII 19), with the majority continuing to depict traditional Roman deities (as here). Furthermore, much has been made of Eusebius' acknowledgement that Constantine was not baptized until just before his death (Life of Constantine IV.62.4), which has naturally given rise to the questions: Was it a carefully calculated move, aimed at absolving all of his sins at the last moment? Or, conversely, a concluding political act, a way of reaffirming his apparent Christian virtue for posterity?
The reverse of the present coin underscores the ostensible Roman yearning for more years (thirty to be precise) of Constantine the Great; with Victory, adorned in a ceremonial dress and accompanied by a Genius figure, inscribing VOT XXX on a shield. The arresting uplifted gaze displayed on the obverse was not, despite sometimes thought to be so, a Constintinian invention. In actuality, Greek coins as far back as 400 BC (including many featuring the deified Alexander) exhibit such upward gazes, as had some of the later coinage of Domitian (see RIC II.2 788), which Harold Mattingly contends was evidence of his particularly 'lofty ambitions' (BMCRE II). Diocletian, too, had occasionally employed a subtler version of the portrait type on his coinage (see RIC V 19).
By implementing the portrait type, Constantine was able to cleverly fashion a visual nod to his newfound Christian piety. And, he continued to develop an original image of emperorship by depicting himself as clean-shaven and with combed hair, as seen in this example, in what was a clear break from the robust and overtly masculine soldier portraits that had dominated coinage of the recent decades. Another prominent feature of this portrait, the rosette-diadem, appears to have been pioneering, and was utilised by Constantine and his familial successors as a novel symbol of imperial sovereignty.