Constantine's Constantiniana Dafne

If you were to own only one coin of Constantine the Great, the Constantiniana Dafne is IMHO the one to get. @John Anthony did a great writeup of the type some time ago, so I won't rehash what he has already covered. I've been keeping my eyes open for a decent example to bid on, but happily, discovered this one unexpectedly in a mixed lot of LRBs. It's in pretty good shape, is well-centered, and still has abundant silvering... much too nice to have been consigned to a group lot, I think.


CONSTANTINE I
AE3
3.12g, 20mm
Constantinople mint, AD 328
RIC VII 32
O: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, rosette-diademed head of Constantine right, looking up to the heavens.
R: CONSTANTINI-ANA DAFNE, Victory seated left on cippus, palm branch in left hand and laurel branch in right hand, looking right, spurning a captive kneeling left with head turned right; a shield at her foot and a trophy before her; gamma in left field, CONS in exergue.

This series comes with a variety of obverse bust types, but I especially like the one-two punch of the reverse iconography coupled with the 'eyes to heaven' bust. As of 1989, a not-in-RIC anepigraphic bust type has emerged, but they remain rare and nice ones can cost mucho denarii. Victor Clark has some pages on the Constantiniana Dafne coins if you want to read more about them or just see other examples.

Anyway, my original point is probably moot... we don't need to own just one measly Constantine coin, right? Show your Constantiniana Dafne or any other Constantine coins you like !

 

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That's a very nice example. I'll post some ctg coins tonight when I get home....

 

@> Z
I have lot (and lots) of the Constantine Family on coins and I have heard of the "Looking Up" portrait but I have never seen one.
That is GREAT! Congrats on the nice 'pick-up'.

When you're sick of looking at it . . . . . . .

 

@Topcat7 Here's a nice one I posted recently:

 

@>V.K. "Where have I been?"
Why haven't I found any of these?
I have over 60 examples of the Constantine family and I do NOT have a single one (of the 'looking up' variety)?
Soooooo envious of you guys.
One day - watch this space.

 

That is a great example, Z! Often these purported "eyes to heaven" poses look more like a defiant or arrogant posture (chin tipped up but eyes looking forward) rather than truly looking up. Perhaps even the indisputably "head and eyes upward" (sometimes called "eyes to God") represent arrogance rather than piety. Maybe I'm interpreting the pose's modern name too literally.

Nor am I sold on McGregor's explanation of the reverse scene ("the religious significance of this reverse type - portraying Constantine as Dafne, turning away from the symbols of the pagan religion (Apollo and Sol) toward the palm, the symbol of Christianity." --Speck, Huston). Using a pagan entity to convey a Christian message doesn't ring true to me. Then again... religious hypocrisy does have a long tradition .

 

Well, at the end of the day, why would it be on the coin if not for the purpose of propaganda... and when it comes to propaganda, the spin is always more important than the truth. I won't argue for his piety, but frankly, if it really is some arrogant chin-jutting going on there, I have to say I admire his cojones .

As for Dafne, I don't know... I can see things as being less black and white then. This would not be the only pagan leftover co-opted for some convenient use by early Christian emperors. Good ol' winged Victory continued to be acceptable, as did Tyche (see the Tyche of Constantinople), and my personal favorite, the use of all those crazy Egyptian gods on the Festival of Isis coins all the way up to Valentinian II.

 

They're out there! Looking forward to when you post yours ...

 

Good point

 

Something worth keeping in mind is religious conversion just doesn't happen because a ruler declares a new state religion. There is a period of transition from the old to the new. Consider regions that are currently undergoing a conversion where old religious beliefs are held at the same time as the new. This will last for some time and once complete will reshape the form of Christianity in that location. An interesting book on the subject is "The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity" by James C. Russell.

I still don't have this type of Constantine coin mentioned in the original post and I showed my others in the last Constantinian thread but below is "today's favorite."


Time of Constantine I, AD 306 - 337
EA, 1.7g, 19mm; 6h; Thessalonica, Greece
Obv.: CONSTAN-TINOPOLIS; bust left, laur. helmet, wearing imperial cloak, reversed spear
Rev.: Victory standing left on prow holding spear and shield
In Ex.: SMTS⌂
Ref: NOT IN RIC, unlisted officinal - ⌂. For THESSALONICA 229 and 230 the weight range is 1.2g - 2g. the average weight being 1.52g.

 

Nice coin Z. I still need one of these. However, like most of us, I have plenty of Constantine coins.

CONSTANTINE I
AE Follis
OBVERSE: CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: SARMATIA DEVICTA, Victory advancing right, holding trophy on right arm, branch in left hand, spurning captive seated on ground right, head turned back, STR(cresent) in ex (unpublished mintmark).
Struck at Trier 323-4 AD
2.8g, 19.4mm
RIC 435v

 

Very sweet OP-coin, Z-bro ... yah, I don't see that example too much, but it is a total winner (all I have is a stinkin' Constantine-I Campgate example)



... yah, I must update this dude's represent-coin, eh? (he was a pretty big deal)

 

Stinkin'!

 

And 800 years later the opening post cointype probably inspired this one:

Artuqids of Mardin (Outb Al-Din Il-Ghazi II, 1176-84AD)

 

Thanks, guys. I still need one of these stinkin' open door campgates and will also take one of Bing's Sarmatia Devictas while I'm at it.

 

You found yourself an excellent example of the type, Z. Congratulations! As far as the discussion concerning McGregor's interpretation of the reverse, you have to understand that Christianity was not at all mainstream when this coin was minted. In fact, the use of pagan symbols to subtly suggest a tack in theology makes perfect sense in the context of a mostly pagan culture. Constantine may have had his personal religious convictions, but he also understood that Roman society in general was not ready to accept them blatantly stamped on a coin. That would come several emperors later.

 

I think it's delta at the end, with a smudge over the top.

 

lovely color Z, and a cool reverse...and obverse!

here's the only constantine coin i picked up last year...also out of a lot of coins.



Constantine I, 307-337 AD
O: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG R: SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Sol, R - F flanking at sides, R*P in exergue Rome mint RIC VII Rome 19 19 mm, 3.0 g

 

Nice eyes to heaven coin Z, my only one.

Doug H.

 

Sorry, a little lighter.