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Showcase Auction 61288 18 Sep 2022
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Ancients
Constantine I the Great (AD 307-337). AE3 or BI nummus (18mm, 2.48 gm, 11h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. Constantinople, AD 327. CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laureate head of Constantine I right / SPES-PVBLIC/A, labarum with three medallions on drapery, crowned by a christogram (Chi-Rho), spearing serpent; CONS below. RIC VII 19. LRBC 978. Extremely rare and of the utmost historical importance. In excellent condition for the issue.
From the Historical Scholar Collection. Ex Antiqua Inc., private sale with old tag
Few coins boast a level of historical importance and symbolism that compare with this example of Constantine. In the plentiful series of Constantine's bronze coinage, this issue is extremely scarce, only struck for a brief period in late AD 327 and early AD 328. It was the first time that Constantine had struck a coin for circulation with a Christian symbol, the Chi-Rho. Constantine's long journey with Christianity was complicated, and we may never know what his true thoughts or beliefs about the faith were. Christian historians such as Eusebius were quick to attribute some of Constantine's early military victories to divine-will. In his biography of the emperor, Eusebius attributes Constantine's triumph over the staunchly pagan Maxentius at Milvian Bridge to a dream that revealed the Chi-Rho symbol to the emperor, who then placed it on the shields of his troops.
There is certainly much to defend the claim that Constantine was a true Christian; his mother was zealously devout, he awarded incredible monetary privileges to the Church, and he often interfered in debates on intricate doctrinal matters, helping to write and approve the Nicene Creed of AD 325. But another school of thought claims that while Constantine looked favorably on Christianity throughout his reign and even may have called himself a Christian, he was still ultimately ambiguous about the faith, perhaps evidenced by the fact that he only received baptism on his deathbed in AD 337.
Politics were certainly at play - the empire he finally gained full control of in AD 324 was barely half Christian, with pagans still occupying the majority of positions of power in both the political sphere and in the army. Constantine knew he had to tread carefully and thus refrained from pursuing any of the anti-pagan measures of his sons or their successors. The complicated political climate better explains the absence of Christian symbolism on Constantine's coinage, and even the Chi-Rho, which later developed an unambiguously Christian connotation, may not have alarmed pagans, at least in Constantine's time.
Historian Richard Bruun has argued that in Constantine's lifetime, many pagans saw the Chi-Rho as merely Constantine's personal badge, one he adopted after his victory at Milvian Bridge. Thus, this coin allowed for two interpretations, one for the pagans of the empire and one for the Christians, a duality that is true of many of Constantine's actions. The pagans of the empire would have seen Constantine's standard, identifiable by the Chi-Rho, piercing a snake representing the defeated Licinius I. Christians would have held this coin and seen on the obverse a portrait of their savior, the man who had delivered them from the terrible persecutions of his predecessors. And on the reverse, they saw a prominent symbol of their faith triumphing over evil, a common interpretation of a snake in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-constantine-i-the-great-ad-307-337-ae3-or-bi-nummus-18mm-248-gm-11h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5/a/61288-95280.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61288-09182022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Constantine I the Great (AD 307-337). AE3 or BI nummus (18mm, 2.48 gm, 11h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. Constantinople, AD 327. CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laureate head of Constantine I right / SPES-PVBLIC/A, labarum with three medallions on drapery, crowned by a christogram (Chi-Rho), spearing serpent; CONS below. RIC VII 19. LRBC 978. Extremely rare and of the utmost historical importance. In excellent condition for the issue.
From the Historical Scholar Collection. Ex Antiqua Inc., private sale with old tag
Few coins boast a level of historical importance and symbolism that compare with this example of Constantine. In the plentiful series of Constantine's bronze coinage, this issue is extremely scarce, only struck for a brief period in late AD 327 and early AD 328. It was the first time that Constantine had struck a coin for circulation with a Christian symbol, the Chi-Rho. Constantine's long journey with Christianity was complicated, and we may never know what his true thoughts or beliefs about the faith were. Christian historians such as Eusebius were quick to attribute some of Constantine's early military victories to divine-will. In his biography of the emperor, Eusebius attributes Constantine's triumph over the staunchly pagan Maxentius at Milvian Bridge to a dream that revealed the Chi-Rho symbol to the emperor, who then placed it on the shields of his troops.
There is certainly much to defend the claim that Constantine was a true Christian; his mother was zealously devout, he awarded incredible monetary privileges to the Church, and he often interfered in debates on intricate doctrinal matters, helping to write and approve the Nicene Creed of AD 325. But another school of thought claims that while Constantine looked favorably on Christianity throughout his reign and even may have called himself a Christian, he was still ultimately ambiguous about the faith, perhaps evidenced by the fact that he only received baptism on his deathbed in AD 337.
Politics were certainly at play - the empire he finally gained full control of in AD 324 was barely half Christian, with pagans still occupying the majority of positions of power in both the political sphere and in the army. Constantine knew he had to tread carefully and thus refrained from pursuing any of the anti-pagan measures of his sons or their successors. The complicated political climate better explains the absence of Christian symbolism on Constantine's coinage, and even the Chi-Rho, which later developed an unambiguously Christian connotation, may not have alarmed pagans, at least in Constantine's time.
Historian Richard Bruun has argued that in Constantine's lifetime, many pagans saw the Chi-Rho as merely Constantine's personal badge, one he adopted after his victory at Milvian Bridge. Thus, this coin allowed for two interpretations, one for the pagans of the empire and one for the Christians, a duality that is true of many of Constantine's actions. The pagans of the empire would have seen Constantine's standard, identifiable by the Chi-Rho, piercing a snake representing the defeated Licinius I. Christians would have held this coin and seen on the obverse a portrait of their savior, the man who had delivered them from the terrible persecutions of his predecessors. And on the reverse, they saw a prominent symbol of their faith triumphing over evil, a common interpretation of a snake in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-constantine-i-the-great-ad-307-337-ae3-or-bi-nummus-18mm-248-gm-11h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5/a/61288-95280.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61288-09182022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved