Choice Antoninianus of Diocletian

Trajan has one of the best legacies, ancient or modern, of any Roman emperor! When later emperors were sworn in it was wished they be ‘luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan’. He literally set the bar for what the Romans saw as a good ruler. Today he is one of the ‘Five Good Emperors’. Trajan was born in A.D. 53 in Italica, Spain, his father had been a consul and governor of Syria. Trajan rose quickly and because he was so popular, importantly with the army, he was adopted in A.D. 97 by the reigning emperor Nerva. Following the death of Nerva the next year, Trajan became emperor. His 19-year reign saw three major conflicts which led to the territory of the Roman Empire being increased to its greatest size. Within the Empire Trajan was a great builder, to name a few projects: the Forum Traiani, Trajan’s Market, an amphitheatre for sea battles, and a new harbour at Ostia. He also established a number of Colonies for retired soldiers and in Italy set up a charity to help orphans and poor children called the Alimentia, shown on one of his rare coins. His most famous and lasting monument is perhaps Trajan’s Column which can still be seen in Rome. When he died he was buried beneath it with Hadrian becoming emperor. We are not often able to offer Trajan’s coins in groups, especially his silver Denarius! They are becoming increasingly hard to find, as he is such a popular emperor, but with much searching, we are able to offer them to you here in Good Fine grade with various reverses.

Continuing our series of the famous Constantinian Dynasty we offer Crispus, the son who was second only to Constantine before being executed. A 1700-year-old mystery that will likely never be solved. Flavius Julius Crispus was born around A.D. 300, the son of Constantine the Great by his first wife Minervina. Made Caesar in A.D. 317 Crispus had a very successful military career, even helping his father to overcome and defeat the rival emperor Licinius in A.D. 324. He was all but heir to the throne but in A.D. 326 he was mysteriously executed on the orders of his father, Constantine the Great. The best theory we have is that his stepmother, the Empress Fausta, engineered it for her own son’s advancement as shortly after Fausta herself was dead on the orders of her devastated and furious husband. These bronze coins were struck in the early A.D. 320s and have various reverses. Crispus does not reign long and after his death, a ‘Damnatio Memoriae’ was enacted meaning his coins are Scarce, and we have limited stock available for this coin. These coins remain some of the best sources of information for him being Caesar. We offer them here in Fine, do not miss out.

Constantine I is the only Roman emperor called ‘the Great’. His father was Constantius I who died in York in A.D. 306 so the army proclaimed Constantine emperor. From A.D. 307 Constantine pronounced himself ‘Augustus’ and slowly but surely became the sole ruler of the empire. Notably, at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, he defeated Maxentius with a Christian symbol on his soldier’s shields given by God in a dream. As he aged Constantine left the old gods behind, becoming Christian, and this support shaped our modern world as Christianity in the medieval era was the common cause that united the West. He was baptised just before his death in A.D. 337 at roughly 65. We offer you this bronze coin minted before his conversion to Christianity. It grades in About Very Fine condition with a pagan reverse of Sol Invictus the sun god, made before A.D. 320. If you already have the 'Wreath' reverse (offered below), a coin made after Constantine moved away from pagan imagery, you can pair it with this coin and display in your collection coinage of the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity both 'before and after' this important event, that would alter the course of history!