An ancient coin found in my 50 year old childhood stash. It has RS in the field with SOL on reverse. Might someone help describe this coin's history, post their photos, etc. I was matching my coin at eBay thus: Constatine I AE Follis -SOL 317. Searching the forum has always been prior to 317 AD or a Constatine II thread. Thank you.
When you say 'in the field' do you mean the RS flanks Sol high in the field? If so, we need the letters in exergue or under the ground line of the reverse. If the RS is in exergue, the coin is Rome mint but if the letters are higher, there should be PARL, SARL or something else in exergue. I do not have an RS high in field but show this RF with exergue R*S. It would help a great deal for you to post a photo of your coin. There are many little variations to be considered.
Thank you Dougsmit: My coin matches your photo; except the "F" has an "S" and both the R and S are parallel to the ground line.
Bing's exampe is Arles mint. RS below the ground line makes yours Rome mint. The S denotes it was made by the second (secunda) workshop (officina). The Sol type is very common from this time but there are many variations of field letters and mints. They were made in a time of relative peace between Constantine and Licinius so you will find similar coins in Licinius' name. The one below has mintmark RP for Roma Prima or first shop at Rome. Enjoy the coin.
It has been suggested to post an image and I concur. However, since I don't have a scanner perhaps I should post a thread about scanner(s) to purchase and techniques unique to coins?
You don't need anything fancy to get a decent picture of a coin. This picture was taken with my Samsung Note 5, cropped on Microsoft Photos, and the panorama was done with a program called InfranView 64 (which is a free program). I literally sat the coin in the counter of the outdoors bar in my backyard (on top of cream colored paper) and took two pictures of each side of the coin while I drank a margarita, and then poured myself another glass of margarita while I cropped and did the panorama. By the time I was pouring myself the third glass of Margarita, this was up on the forum.
