ANCIENT- Constantine I " High Five " Commemorative - "MANVS DEI"

The Constantine I "High Five" bronze reduced follis- often referred to as the "MANVS DEI" the Hand of God. Although this coin is not rare and not valuable, it is a 'must have' for any collector of Ancients. The posthumous Constantine commemorative was minted between 337-340 AD, by the sons of Constantine the Great. Many of you might be familiar with Constantine I, as the first Christian Emperor. Before the battle of the Milvian Bridge, he is said to have seen the Angel Gabriel in the sky, the angel told him that if he carried the sign of the "Chi-Rho" (the cross) then his victory and legacy would be assured. That very day he order his soldiers to apply the Chi-Rho to their shields, in order to assure victory.

Constantine was successful and won a decisive victory. He later converted to christianity and brought the whole of the empire under this homogamy. He went on to become one of the most famous rulers that ever lived. He was loved and admired in life and in death, his descendants carried many variations of his name. The city of Istanbul in modern Turkey was founded by the this emperor on the site of old Byzantium. The city would later bear his name - Constantinople.

The coin minted after his death-

The obverse depicts the Emperor in a burial shroud and on the reverse the Emperor driving an ascending (Heaven Bound) quadriga to the Judeo-Christian God's waiting hand. The coin also represents the first Judeo-Christian imagery on a coin.

Here I include the seller's photo and description....



[TD="class: descr"]
DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG, Veiled bust of Constantine right / Emperor in quadriga right, hand of god reaches him from above, star above, SMANA in exergue. 15mm, 1.72 grams. Antioch mint, RIC 37, minted 337-340 AD. Superb condition, rare this nice![/TD]

 

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Posts like this basically define why I visit CoinTalk. It was a good read.

 

Excellent coin. I havent found one for sale I truly liked so I still dont have this type yet.

 

An interesting note about Constantine. Some like to say he was not a "true Christian" since he only converted on his deathbed. But, back then, when you converted to Christianity all of your former sins were wiped clean. You could only do this once, and it was not available otherwise. So, basically Constantine was being pragmatic and saving his one "get out of **** free" card for the best timing.

Later on they changed it, offering confessions to cleanse your sins.

Just something to think about if anyone tries to talk smack about Constantine and his Christianity.

Edit: Pretty irritating when I am physically talking about the afterlife ruled over by Satan to not be able to spell the word out.

 

Excellent coin, wonderful post. This type has so many very special things that are at least unusual. Constantine the Christian is called DV (Divus = the divine one) and shown being welcomed to heaven by God (as an equal???). How many other coins have the abbreviation PT AVGG (pater of the emperors - his sons who issued the coin)? Full legend examples are not all that easily found since the mints of the day were striking very rapidly due to the need for cash to fuel inflation.

 

Btw I agree with Doug. Well centered on a full flan example of these are not very easy to find. The dies really called for 17-18mm flans, but were mainly struck on 15-16mm ones instead. Most of these are missing some design element, let alone legends.

Nice example AN.:thumb:

 

Very nice example Anoob. As mentioned, both my examples are missing most of the legends on both sides. :thumb:

 

The coin may not be rare, but finding one that has ALL the devices intact is not easy. Your coin is complete. Mine is missing most of the mint mark, but I thought it was sufficiently detailed in other important aspects. The quadriga/hand device is a lot of detail to put on a 15mm coin, and most of the coins you find have significant portions of it off the flan.

 

Great lookin' coins, fellas!!

 

I would say great looking avatar Steve but I know you are going to change it in a few minutes.

 

Nice I recently acquired one of the type myself.

 

Come on Ripley - Whip it out !

 

OK but I put it up around 2 weeks ago.

 

great one AN...






yours is one of the better one...very nice.