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…
