I am a collector of Constantine I. I also have some nice coins of his family members. I recently purchased a nice Helena (Constantine's Mother) for $35. Here it is: Helena; Æ Follis; Heraclea; Æ19; 3.1 OBV: FL HELENA AVGVSTA; Diademed, mantled bust r. REV: SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE; Securitas stg l., lowering branch with r. hand, raising hem of robe with l.; SMHΔ in ex. RIC VII; HERACLE79Δ; Note: SEAR 16613. Does anyone know the timeframe for this issue? Thanks in advance.
Was your coin tootled? Because to me, it looks like it, but I may be wrong. Good thread on her. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/one-helena-beautiful-coin-helena-istic-pile-on.368838/ Here is mine. Helena (324 - 330 A.D) Æ3 O: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right. R: SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left. Siscia Mint, 5th offcina 19mm 2.8g RIC 218
@Mat , i don't think its tooled. Seems like Helena coins tend to have some very deep furrows and engraving that look tooled, but don't appear to be. Where do you see the traces of tooling?
I don't claim to be an expert in tooling. But just the way the robe engraving on Securitas, hair of Helena, scraping in the field by REIPV. It could be just the way it was cleaned after being found.
Portions of the coin have been "smoothed." Ditto the other one. Now, here is the problem... IMHO, a large number of ancient coins have been altered in some way, especially those made of bronze. However, a very large number of them are considered to be "market acceptable." Both coins in this thread possibly are "MA." As I'm not an ancient dealer - I cannot say for sure. Some things to look for are color changes, smooth areas (w/o pits or roughness found on the rest of the coin), and outlines around the relief.
Fun OP coin and really dig yours patina Mat! Black patina can be a real pain to photograph. Thanks for the shout out! And good memory I wrote that thread almost a year ago exactly Here's my two favs of the saintly mama:
