Looks like a Divs Constantine to me: Divus Constantine Obverse: DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG, veiled head right Reverse: Constantine in quadriga right, the hand of God, upper centre, grasping the chariot Not sure the mint mark since it would be under the chariot and it is missing on your coin.
Lots of educational value! If your looking for cash... you won’t find much here, maybe $5 or so if you’re lucky. Give it to someone, maybe a kid, that will appreciate it for what it is... a 1700+ year old piece of history.
May also have some theological value to someone who is particularly religious or is interested in the early history of the Christian church. Here is the emperor who made Christianity the favored religion of the Empire being taken up into heaven by the Christian god, yet simultaneously being declared a god in his own right by his sons. A bit ironic, I'd say, and certainly heretical by today's Christian dogma. Shows how long it can take for old habits to die.
Well, he didn't personally edit it--he was no authority on Christianity, but rather an enthusiastic student--but he convened the Council of Nicaea, in which he invited/commanded bishops and theologians from all around the empire to get together and work out all their different theological disputes in an effort to put an end to all the in-fighting within the church. Basically, the Council decided what was legitimate Christian belief and what was heresy.
Here's mine for comparison: Constantine I Died AD 337. Æ Follis Constantinople mint. Struck AD 337-340. Veiled bust right / Constantine I driving quadriga right being crowned from above by the hand of God; CONS. RIC VIII 37; LRBC 1041.
CONSTANTINE I AE4 OBVERSE: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG, Veiled bust draped & cuirassed right REVERSE: Constantine driving quadriga right, hand of God reaching down to him, (no star in field), Mintmark: SMANS Struck at Antioch 337-340 AD 1.6g, 14mm RIC VIII 39 CONSTANTINE I AE4 OBVERSE: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG, veiled head right REVERSE: No legend, emperor veiled to right in quadriga, the hand of God reaches down to him, star in top centre Struck at Antioch 337-340 AD 1.6g, 14mm RIC VIII 37
Just an opinion: When shopping for one of these, look for one with the obverse legend clear even if it costs a bit more. What makes this coin controversial today is the use of the title DV (Divus) at the start. Pagan emperors became gods when they died but Christians soon realized that this was inconsistent with the theology. The end of the legend reads PT AVGG (pater Augustorum) recognizing his leaving the Empire to the kids who would soon set to killing each other. I don't think Constantine ever had a firm grasp on the subject but at least tried to keep the Orthodox and Heretics from killing each other in the name of their God. Fans of this type like to argue about how many fingers God had on the hand with which he welcomed Constantine. Of course, you want a mintmark on flan, too, so you might have to look a while to find the coin that you want. I sold this one last year but have trouble letting go of these coins. I do consider the type a bit special.
It's hard to tell exactly who or what is raising Constantine to heaven on the back of this coin. God, in the form of a turkey? Or God making finger shadows, maybe? The star makes it interesting, though: Antioch mint, A.D. 337-347 (Posthumous) RIC 39 Obv: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG Rev: Constantine in quadriga, being raised to heaven by the hand of God SMANΓ in exergue 15 mm, 1.6 g.
The opinion expressed by @dougsmit re: obv legend isn't wrong. My example excels in that department, but I wish the reverse exergue was more complete and clear. I *think* it is SMALΓ from Alexandria, RIC 12, LRBC 1454.
Alexandria, RIC. 12 Nice one Some examples here https://www.colleconline.com/fr/collection-items/3439/monnaie-antique-romaine-divus-alexandrie
