It was a very wet Saturday in Stoke on Trent in January 1973 and I was none too pleased when the Stoke City v Ipswich Town game was postponed. However I found a stamp and coin fair so all was not lost! I purchased the delightful little coin above for the princely sum of £1.25. It was described as "Roman. Constantine I (Struck at Antioch after his death) AE4 (as Seaby 3789) GF-NVF". The reverse shows a quadriga with the hand of God above. Constantine I (the Great) died in AD 337. If anyone has a better one (or a Seaby catalogue!) and can give me any more information re the portrait, legends etc then I'd be very grateful!
This is not my area but I can point you to some resources. @Victor_Clark is a Constantine expert (even did his master's thesis on the man) and maintains a website and online coin store. For your coin type, Victor notes the following: "After Constantine died in 337, his sons issued posthumous coins in honor of their father. Constantine was the last Emperor to be consecrated and deified on coins. Eusebius also wrote about one of these posthumous coins: 'At the same time coins were struck portraying the Blessed One on the obverse in the form of one with head veiled, on the reverse like a charioteer on a quadriga, being taken up by a right hand stretched out to him from above.' Life of Constantine IV 73" ... In Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, David Vagi notes that "commemorative coins struck after Constantine's death are limited to the smallest and least-valuable denomination, the reduced nummus of the AE4 module. As a perfect reflection of his institutionalization of Christianity through a gradual transition from paganism, the most common piece shows Constantine driving a quadriga of horses (in the manner of the sun-god Sol) skyward toward the hand of God (the manus Dei) which emerges from the clouds to receive him into heaven." ... Correcting for inflation, your coin in today's GBP cost ~£14.68 (~18.65 USD). Compared to the asking prices for the same type of coin on Vcoins, it looks like it has gained in value... not that most of us pay much attention to such things since we're far too attached to our coins to sell them .
Antioch examples will have mintmark SMAN followed by the workshop letter. Below is Z (7). From your photo, I can not be sure but is it SMALE which would be Alexandria? Sorry I don't have one to show. The photo also brings up the question of whether the green deposits are hard and stable which should be ignored or powdery which will progressively grow and destroy the coin if not treated. Photos can be hard to read but I suspect others will have opinions and advice on this.
Thanks TIF - very interesting. I clicked on the VCoins link and was amazed as to the variety of coins on the same theme!
I believe these are fairly common - mine is from Antioch Imperial Rome Constantine I Posthumous, (337-348) Antioch Mint, Billon Reduced Centenionalis, 16mm x 1.2 grams Obv.: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG, veiled, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev.: No legend, Divus Constantine in quadriga right, star above, the hand of God reaching down to him. Mintmark: SMANΔ Ref.: SRCV 17488 I once had a student come in with a box full of lage riman Coins (maybe 100-150) that his grandfather had randomly. No holders or identification or anything. I think I managed to find about five of these in a quick glance
Thanks Doug - it's really hard on my coin to decide about the mint even with a powerful magnifying glass. There are two upright strokes with no middle between the 'S' and the 'A' which must be an 'M' but by the same token there are two uprights and possibly a ghost of a diagonal after the 'A' which looks like 'N' but if that's the case there's no workshop letter. Which begs the question is there always a workshop letter? As to the green bits I think they're hard and stable - they certainly don't shift with a fingernail - but I await opinions and advice from others.
Same as @FitzNigel 's coin: posthumous Constantine I, AE 4, 337–348 AD, Antioch mint. Obv.: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG, veiled portrait right. Rev.: Constantine in quadriga right, hand of God and star above, mintmark SMANΔ. Ref.: RIC VIII Antioch, 37,Δ. 14mm, 2.08g, ex Savoca.
