Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Constantine I 'the Great' AV Solidus. Treveri, AD 314-315. CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate head to right / RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS, Roma enthroned to right, shield at side, holding sceptre in left hand and handing globe held in right hand to Constantine in military attire, standing to left, extending right hand to receive globus and cradling parazonium in left arm; PTR in exergue. RIC VII 25 var. (rev. legend breaks); cf. Alfoldi 428-9 (for type); Depeyrot 20/7; Calicó -; DOC -; Hunter -; Biaggi 1990; Kampmann 18 (this coin) = AdG p. 42 (this coin) = DDTP p. 25 (this coin); NAC 49, lot 468. 4.45g, 19mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine. Excessively Rare.
This coin published at www.moneymuseum.com;
This coin published in U. Kampmann, Menschengesichter. Gotter, Herrscher, Ideale- das Antlitz des Menschen im Munzbild (Zurich, 2005);
This coin published in A. Wenzel, D. Pommerening, G. Frick, Atlas des Geldes (Zurich, 2003);
This coin published in U. Kampmann, Drachme, Dirhem, Taler, Pfund- Geld und Wehrungen in der Geschichte. Von den Anfangen bis zum EURO (Zurich, 2000);
Ex Long Valley River Collection, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 30 October 2020, lot 688;
Ex MoneyMuseum Zurich Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XVIII, 6 January 2015, lot 1241 (hammer: USD 27,500);
Ex Antiqua Inc. (Steve Rubinger), List VII, 1999/2000, no. 111;
Ex A. Tkalec AG, 23 October 1998, lot 311.
This excessively rare solidus of Constantine I 'the Great' illustrates the dual-nature of his imagery that pervaded his time in power, emphasising on the one side tradition and innovation on the other. The synergy between these two concepts was key to his eventual success and was present in much of the propaganda he and his allies circulated. Becoming sole ruler of the Roman Empire in AD 324 after forty years of the Tetrarchy system of government was an achievement that was hard-won on the battlefield through nearly two decades of civil war, but his designs on individual power were made manifest in his self-representation much earlier, as this coin shows.
The iconography of Constantine's portrait on the obverse of this coin appears to represent a break with the artistic tradition associated with the Tetrarchy prevalent at the time, and instead draws on an older style of portraiture for inspiration. In place of the schematic, somewhat simplistic portraiture favoured by the Tetrarchs, here Constantine discards this style in favour of a more naturalistic and youthful image, perhaps inspired by Julio-Claudian portraiture, which was first propagated by Augustus after his own civil war victory, which resulted in the beginning of the principate. The comparison with Augustus is further corroborated by the obverse legend RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS – 'to the restorer of freedom', which implies that Constantine wished to portray himself as reinstating ancient principles of government, in much the same way as Augustus himself did when he assumed power in 27 BC, declaring that he was restoring the Golden Age of Rome. This interpretation suggests that a full 10 years before Constantine became sole emperor, he was subtly referencing his long term aspirations.
In contrast to the notions of restoring the historic Augustan age represented on the obverse of this coin, the reverse could be seen to preconfigure dramatic change, namely the most significant geographical shift of power in over three centuries of the Roman Empire. In AD 314-315, when this coin was minted at Treveri, Constantine's victory over his fellow emperor Maxentius had left him in control of the western half of the Roman empire, while Licinius still ruled in the East. The fact that the reverse of this coin depicts the goddess Roma entrusting Constantine with a globe, symbolic of the Roman 'imperium sine fine' or 'empire without end' (Virgil, Aeneid 1.279), perhaps suggests that Constantine thought himself worthy of ruling over the whole empire, not just the empire in the West. Fifteen years later, after his rival Licinius had been defeated at the battle of Chrysopolis, Constantine decided to move the administrative capital of the empire to Byzantium, which he christened Constantinopolis and styled as the 'New Rome', which constituted a fundamental break with centuries of tradition geographically, but through shrewd deployment of propaganda was cast politically as a continuation of Augustan traditions.
Good Extremely Fine. Excessively Rare.
This coin published at www.moneymuseum.com;
This coin published in U. Kampmann, Menschengesichter. Gotter, Herrscher, Ideale- das Antlitz des Menschen im Munzbild (Zurich, 2005);
This coin published in A. Wenzel, D. Pommerening, G. Frick, Atlas des Geldes (Zurich, 2003);
This coin published in U. Kampmann, Drachme, Dirhem, Taler, Pfund- Geld und Wehrungen in der Geschichte. Von den Anfangen bis zum EURO (Zurich, 2000);
Ex Long Valley River Collection, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 30 October 2020, lot 688;
Ex MoneyMuseum Zurich Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XVIII, 6 January 2015, lot 1241 (hammer: USD 27,500);
Ex Antiqua Inc. (Steve Rubinger), List VII, 1999/2000, no. 111;
Ex A. Tkalec AG, 23 October 1998, lot 311.
This excessively rare solidus of Constantine I 'the Great' illustrates the dual-nature of his imagery that pervaded his time in power, emphasising on the one side tradition and innovation on the other. The synergy between these two concepts was key to his eventual success and was present in much of the propaganda he and his allies circulated. Becoming sole ruler of the Roman Empire in AD 324 after forty years of the Tetrarchy system of government was an achievement that was hard-won on the battlefield through nearly two decades of civil war, but his designs on individual power were made manifest in his self-representation much earlier, as this coin shows.
The iconography of Constantine's portrait on the obverse of this coin appears to represent a break with the artistic tradition associated with the Tetrarchy prevalent at the time, and instead draws on an older style of portraiture for inspiration. In place of the schematic, somewhat simplistic portraiture favoured by the Tetrarchs, here Constantine discards this style in favour of a more naturalistic and youthful image, perhaps inspired by Julio-Claudian portraiture, which was first propagated by Augustus after his own civil war victory, which resulted in the beginning of the principate. The comparison with Augustus is further corroborated by the obverse legend RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS – 'to the restorer of freedom', which implies that Constantine wished to portray himself as reinstating ancient principles of government, in much the same way as Augustus himself did when he assumed power in 27 BC, declaring that he was restoring the Golden Age of Rome. This interpretation suggests that a full 10 years before Constantine became sole emperor, he was subtly referencing his long term aspirations.
In contrast to the notions of restoring the historic Augustan age represented on the obverse of this coin, the reverse could be seen to preconfigure dramatic change, namely the most significant geographical shift of power in over three centuries of the Roman Empire. In AD 314-315, when this coin was minted at Treveri, Constantine's victory over his fellow emperor Maxentius had left him in control of the western half of the Roman empire, while Licinius still ruled in the East. The fact that the reverse of this coin depicts the goddess Roma entrusting Constantine with a globe, symbolic of the Roman 'imperium sine fine' or 'empire without end' (Virgil, Aeneid 1.279), perhaps suggests that Constantine thought himself worthy of ruling over the whole empire, not just the empire in the West. Fifteen years later, after his rival Licinius had been defeated at the battle of Chrysopolis, Constantine decided to move the administrative capital of the empire to Byzantium, which he christened Constantinopolis and styled as the 'New Rome', which constituted a fundamental break with centuries of tradition geographically, but through shrewd deployment of propaganda was cast politically as a continuation of Augustan traditions.