Constans Two Victories Fine

Before the Crisis of the Third Century, most cities in the Roman Empire did not have walls, dried fruit from Syria could be bought in Britain and copper from Cornwall was traded in Egypt! Sadly this did not last and continuing with our series we offer one of the harder major Emperors to get from the Crisis, Claudius II Gothicus. Born around A.D. 214 he had held several important military commands during the reigns of Valerian I and Gallienus. When Gallienus was murdered at the siege of Milan, Claudius was swiftly proclaimed emperor by the troops and approved by the Senate. He took the city of Milan and suppressed the rebellion. He quickly defeated the invading Alemanni tribe, then the invading Goths in A.D. 269, winning the title ‘Gothicus Maximus’. Next year the Goths attacked again in Thrace, but an outbreak of plague left them so weak they were again defeated by Claudius. But the plague spread from the captured Goths to the Roman army. Claudius himself fell victim and died of plague at Sirmium in August A.D. 269. He was the turning point in the fortunes of the Roman Empire, the beginning of a long struggle back to stability after The Crisis. We offer Billon Antoninianus with various reverses in an About Very Fine grade with various reverses. As is typical with these coins from The Crisis some will have weaker sections and the first to order will get the best! Claudius Gothicus is one of the hardest Crisis emperors to get so these will run out fast.

From the series of the famous Constantinian Dynasty, we are now offering Constantine II, the son who thought that he should have ruled alone as the eldest. Probably born in A.D. 316 to Constantine the Great, Constantine Junior was raised to the rank of Caesar very young in A.D. 317, showing some military prowess in the next 20 years. On the death of his father in A.D. 337, he was made Senior Augustus and given Spain, Gaul, and Britain to rule. He thought he deserved more so set out to take from his younger brother, Constans, in Italy. But Constantine was ambushed by his brother’s troops and killed in A.D. 340, lasting only three years. We offer bronze coins struck A.D. 330-337 with the reverse ‘GLORIAEXERCITVS’ or ‘Glory to the Army'. Here we offer the coin in Fine, very reasonable for a coin almost 2,000 years old. Get it now, so you won't feel jealous later...

Our recent offering of the Roman Starter Collection was so well received we thought we would help our collectors add to it by offering coins of the famous Constantinian Dynasty. This important dynasty, named for its founder, stewarded the pagan-dominated empire from a Tetrarchy of four military men to a heavily Christianised one under one family. But this was by no means a smooth transition! Constantine I is the only Roman emperor called ‘the Great’. Born around A.D. 272 at Naissus (in modern Serbia) his father was Constantius I, one of the soldier emperors in the Tetrarchic system. On campaign in Britain the sick Constantius I died at York in A.D. 306 so the army proclaimed Constantine emperor. From A.D. 307 Constantine styled himself as ‘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, apparently 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. Importantly for Britain, he struck the gold Solidus at 72 to the Roman pound, called a Libra. Librae, solidi, and the defunct denarii became pounds, shillings, and pence (£.s.d.). The coin presented here was made after A.D. 320 when Constantine moved away from pagan imagery. It shows a wreath and grades Very Fine. You can now add one of the most important Roman emperors to your collection! And if you already have a coin of him you might not have this type…