Ancient Roman Horses

Hi. The reverse of this Roman coin shows a series of horses driven by some guy. The obverse figures a bare- head Emperor, if I am not mistaken. Could you please try to elaborate? Thanks in advance. Charles

 

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This is a posthumous issue of Constantine the great. The figure on the chariot is suppose to be Constantine reaching to touch the hand of God.

 

Looks something like this:

Constantine The Great
MANVS DEI The Hand of God
AE 3, Reduced Folis
337-340 A.D.
1.72 grams, 15 mm
Obv: DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG,
Veiled bust of Constantine I to right
Rev: Emperor in quadriga right, hand of
god reaches him from above, star
above, SMANS in exergue.
Grade: gVF coin with dark brown patina
Well centered, well struck, and
includes all legends.
Other: Antioch mint, RIC 37.Constantine “The Great” Posthumous issue.
"MANVS DEI" the Hand of God.
Superb condition & rarely this nice.

Constantine I is depicted in a burial shroud. The Christian is called DV (Divus = the divine one) and shown being welcomed to heaven by God. This coin was minted after Constantine’s death. The obverse depicts the Emperor in a burial shroud and on the reverse the Emperor driving an ascending (Heaven Bound) quadriga to the Judeo-Christian God's waiting hand. The coin also represents the first Judeo-Christian imagery on a coin. Full legend examples are not easily found since the mints of the day were striking very rapidly due to the need for cash to fuel inflation.

 

Divus Constantine AE3/4. 337-340 AD. 15mm, 1.5g

OBV: DV CONSTANTINVS PF AVGG, Veiled head right.

REV: Constantine in quadriga right, the hand of God, upper center, grasping the chariot, CONS in ex.

REF: RIC VIII Constantinopolis 37

 

Here is one of my version of this coin:

CONSTANTINE I AE4
OBVERSE: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG, Veiled bust draped & cuirassed right
REVERSE: Constantine driving quadriga right, hand of God reaching down to him, (no star in field), Mintmark: SMANS
Struck at Antioch 337-340 AD
1.6g, 14mm
RIC VIII 39

 

I sold this really nice one to brother Eng. Lots of detail in such a small space...

 

double post

 

here' mine of the type, kind of rough...





speaking of ENG....where's he been?

 

The OP coin is nicer than most with readable legends although the tiny letters make it nice to know what they are before you start reading. Most of these, including the ones shown here by our members are missing parts of the legend. I credit you for recognizing the head as an emperor since most beginners call it a woman because of the head covering. The coins are very common but still in good demand because of the Christian connection.

 

*rats*

... I don't have an example ...

=> sweet coin, 7Calbrey

 

I have an example but it's condition is shameful compared to these ones you guys have posted haha. Your's looks like it has some pretty good detail

 

Post it anyways.

 

The condition of a coin might be poor, but there's nothing shameful about owning an important piece of Roman history. Here's an example I won several weeks ago, for a mere $10 - I guess nobody else was interested. It's not as nice as the one I posted above, but if you can get any of these coins with decent detail on the reverse for cheap, you really shouldn't pass them up. It's an awful small space for a full quadriga, and many of the coins are poorly struck.

 

Here's mine, still got stubborn dirt on it haha. The detail isn't too bad actually, might look better fully cleaned.

 

It's a good coin. Soak it in distilled water (don't use any other kind), change the water every few days, and see if you can dislodge any of the dirt with Q-tip or toothpick. If you can't, let it be.

 

I agree with JA.

Like Doug said, many of these do not include full legend, and many, because of the small flan, do not show the hand of God well, if at all. They are fairly common and the costs reflect that. So try looking for ones with the hand and with full legends.

 

I also count the legs on the horses. Now a quadriga will have 16 legs, but as some of them will be behind the horses, I doubt you'll find one with a full complement. The coin I posted in reply 6 has 14, which is the most I've ever seen. The coin in reply 13 has 10, which is still quite respectable.

 

You may get the idea that we are a bit odd counting horselegs and Godfingers but it is possible to attribute some of these to a mint even if the mintmark is off flan if you compare the way some of these minor details were rendered. I do not go so far as to pay extra for a five fingered God hand but I have bought a coin that I might have let go as too low grade otherwise just because it had a high five. Of the ones below (count legs as you wish but 14 is my best, too) I'll point out the nicely done hand on the first Antioch (SMANZ) with four fingers and an opposing thumb (but only 10 legs). The sand patina Constantinople has the strangest and largest hand I've seen but the finger count is not so good. Compare it to Gil's and the one JA sold Eng to confirm that the letter tops you see are CONS.

Each of these dies was an individual effort and a mint does not necessarily follow the same pattern all the time. The last coin (Heraklea SMHE) has five fingers but the thumb is not well differentiated. We will differ on which feature is most important. I prefer coins with all legends clear so the first shown is my favorite. Others may differ. If you hang around here long enough, you may see someone post a 16 leg, five finger, full legend gem just to show JA and I that we were deficient in such matters. This post points out that I only have coins from four different mints in my five total. I guess I should start looking for the others but there are just too many coins to expect to have them all in every variation.

 

That's a perfectly lovely set Doug. Should we dub the four-finger variants "Hand of Homer Simpson?"

 

This thing has been sitting in distilled water for about 4 months now so I'm going to give it a go with a toothpick. Real shame if I have to leave all that crusty dirt on the obverse :/