Constantine, Ticinum mint Sol Invictus rev.

Interesting, I had not heard about this interpretation before. Here is an example from Trier:

 

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This is a reference to the Book of Revelation:

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

With Alpha and Omega being the first and last letters of the greek alphabet.

Here's my Magnentius from Lyons (RIC 154). It was the first nice coin I splurged on after I started collecting.

 

Aelia Flacilla (sorry for the poor state of preservation) / Victory painting ☧ on a shield.

 

Here's one with Eudoxia being crowned by the Hand of God as well as Victory inscribing a chi-rho on a shield.

Aelia Eudoxia
400-404 AD
AE3
Cyzicus Mint
Obverse: AEL EVDO-XIA AVG, diademed draped bust right
Reverse: SALVS REI-PVBLICAE, Victory seated right on cuirass, pointing one hand at a shield inscribed with the Chi-Rho, supporting it on a column with her other hand.
Mintmark: SMK

 

Here's the first Christian symbol on a common coin, RIC VII Ticinum 45 from 316 AD. Maybe no coincidence that it's from the same mint as the Chi-Rho medallion. Note though that the field marks "+" and "*" are control marks most likely chosen by the mint, not part of the design itself.



Here's one of the first coins where a Christogram was actually part of the design, which we can tell since this was coordinated across mints. This is RIC VII Aquileia 58, issued in 320 AD. You can consider this six-pointed star-like symbol as a prototype (or better, deliberately ambiguous) Chi-Rho. Sometimes it has a small blob-like top to it.



These are my coins/photos - you're welcome to use them.

However, if you want to talk about historians propagandizing on behalf of Christianity, then you really need to look at written works and not the coins. The best place to start might be "Vita Constantini" (The Life of Constantine) written by bishop Eusebius shortly after Constantine's death, or even Constantine's own writings.

Eusebius's "Life" while sounding as if it might be a biography, is anything but. It is considered as a panegyric (a somewhat formalized type of praise) rather than history per se, even though it is also a useful historical source. You won't find any mention there of Constantine killing a half dozen of his own family members, or other such unsavory matters.

It's a tough subject - whole books have been written about it!

 

I'm already past that stage, I just thought the addition of a coin or two would show the period of time between the supposed Eusebian vision (which, for sure was thoroughly scrutinized in my writing)

Lactantius is the best source via De Mortibus Prosecutorum.

Here is a small passage from my work as it stands so far - unfinished - but progressing.

 

It's an interesting source for sure, not least for his gruesome description of Galerius' ailment, but no one source can be relied upon. Everyone has an axe to grind (and even more so for most modern writers!). Lactantius's message in De Mortibus was obviously pretty specific - if you oppose Christianity, then bad things will happen to you!

As far as Constantine's "vision" I think Lactantius is to be preferred over Eusebius since he both actually knew Constantine (being tutor to Crispus), and was writing closer to events. As I recall, Eusebius only ever met Constantine once, and his writing is anyways notoriously revisionist. In early revisions of "Vita" Licinius is a good guy for supporting Christianity, but later he has to be recast as a bad guy since Constantine killed him, and that needed some apology.

Victor Clark, who gave you the SPES PVBLIC photo above, has a good list of source documents on his web site. If your goal is to discover the actual history, then you want to read all sources, both pagan and Christian. If you just want to describe Christian propaganda, then Eusebius is your guy!

http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/

 

I ended up using this image.

Will share some more info soon.

 

Here is a relatively early Constantine I with a cross on an altar on the reverse. Whether the cross is a christian symbol is unknown to me:

Constantine I. 307-337 AD. Æ Follis. (18mm). Struck 318/319 AD. Ticinium mint. Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, cuirassed bust right in crested helmet with laurel wreath. Rev: VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP, Victories vis-à-vis, holding shield inscribed VOT/PR on altar with cross on it. PT in ex RIC: 82, C: 638.

 

Based on my research, if I recall this is too early for the cross as a Christian symbol. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm just a kid ya know

 

Here's the first Christian symbol on a common coin, RIC VII Ticinum 45 from 316 AD.

So you have 3 very early examples from Ticinum: one medallion with a Chi-Rho and two coins with crosses. These are not design elements but control marks. All the other coins, including the SPES PVBLICA are later.

The Edit of Milan proclaiming religious tolerance was passed in A.D. 313. I'm sure it took a while for information about the Edict to disperse throughout the Empire. Since both the Sol and the two-Victories-holding-shield reverses appeared at several other mints, but the Christian symbolism at only one, it seems most likely that these Christian affirmations had no connection to Roman policy. Rather, they were the result of a Christian celator celebrating his ability to announce his faith, and perhaps even proselyte, without fear of official persecution.

 

100 percent! Ticinum appears to be the leader of this.

Why weren’t the symbols more “undeniably Christian”? Because anti-Christian rhetoric was in no short order for a period period of time after persecution ended. I love how vague some of the depictions are.

I especially love the six pointed star, right next to Sol Invictus.. lol!