Constantine I 307-337 AD, Constantinople, AD 333-335, AE 3, 1.93g.png

Roman Empire Bronze Coin of Constantine I (about 1690 years ago)

$200.00

This small bronze coin was minted in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) during the later reign of Constantine I, after he had established his new eastern capital. Part of a commemorative series rather than depicting the emperor himself, this coin celebrates Rome's ancient heritage while reflecting Constantine's ambitious vision for his new city.

Coin Description:

Front side: Helmeted bust of Roma (personification of the city of Rome) facing left; inscription "VRBS ROMA" (City of Rome)
Back side: She-wolf standing left, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus (Rome's legendary founders); two stars above; mint mark "CONSE" in exergue (bottom section)

Technical Details:

Bronze composition, weighing 1.93 grams
AE3 denomination (small bronze coin in late Roman monetary system)
Reference: RIC-78
No certification mentioned
Date: 333-335 CE, minted at Constantinople
Condition: Not specified

Historical Significance: This commemorative issue reflects Constantine's complex relationship with Rome's past. Although he had established Constantinople as his new capital in the east, he maintained symbolic connections to Rome's ancient traditions. The legendary she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus was one of Rome's most sacred origin stories. Issuing this traditional imagery from his new eastern capital demonstrated Constantine's claim that Constantinople was a continuation and renewal of Roman civilization, even as the empire's power center shifted eastward.

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Coin Description:

Front side: Helmeted bust of Roma (personification of the city of Rome) facing left; inscription "VRBS ROMA" (City of Rome)
Back side: She-wolf standing left, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus (Rome's legendary founders); two stars above; mint mark "CONSE" in exergue (bottom section)

Technical Details:

Bronze composition, weighing 1.93 grams
AE3 denomination (small bronze coin in late Roman monetary system)
Reference: RIC-78
No certification mentioned
Date: 333-335 CE, minted at Constantinople
Condition: Not specified

Coin Description:

Front side: Helmeted bust of Roma (personification of the city of Rome) facing left; inscription "VRBS ROMA" (City of Rome)
Back side: She-wolf standing left, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus (Rome's legendary founders); two stars above; mint mark "CONSE" in exergue (bottom section)

Technical Details:

Bronze composition, weighing 1.93 grams
AE3 denomination (small bronze coin in late Roman monetary system)
Reference: RIC-78
No certification mentioned
Date: 333-335 CE, minted at Constantinople
Condition: Not specified

Constantine I^[g] (Latin: Flavius Valerius Constantinus; 27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.^[h] He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, decriminalizing Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution in a period referred to as the Constantinian shift.^[4] This initiated the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Constantine is associated with the religiopolitical ideology known as Caesaropapism, which epitomizes the unity of church and state. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which remained so for over a millennium.

Born in Naissus, in Dardania within Moesia Superior (now Niš, Serbia), Constantine was the son of Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer of Illyrian origin who had been one of the four rulers of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, was a Greek woman of low birth, probably from Asia Minor in modern Turkey. Later canonised as a saint, she is traditionally credited for the conversion of her son. Constantine served with distinction under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Galerius. He began his career by campaigning in the eastern provinces (against the Persians) before being recalled in the west (in AD 305) to fight alongside his father in the province of Britannia. After his father's death in 306, Constantine was proclaimed as augustus (emperor) by his army at Eboracum (York, England). He eventually emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324.