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<p>[QUOTE="Victor_Clark, post: 4655688, member: 10613"]My newest acquisition is this anepigraphic (no legend) coin from Constantinople.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1149220[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantine I</p><p>A.D. 327</p><p>21mm 3.2g</p><p>OBV. Anepigraphic: rosette diademed head, looking up to heavens</p><p>REV. CONSTANTINIANA DAFNE; Victory seated l. on cippus, palm branch in left hand and laurel branch in right hand, looking r.; trophy at front, at the foot is a kneeling captive with head turned being spurned by Victory; E in left.</p><p>in ex. CONS </p><p>Constantinople mint</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse is the famous “eyes to heaven” bust, likely inspired by Alexander the Great coins.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>"How deeply his soul was impressed by the power of divine faith may be understood from the circumstance that he directed his likeness to be stamped on the golden coin of the empire with eyes uplifted as in the posture of prayer to God: and this money became current throughout the Roman world." (Eusebius IV.15)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse has an interesting legend CONSTANTINIANA DAFNE; which translates as Constantinian Dafne. The word dafne in Greek (daphne) means laurel; which is a symbol of victory. (see Jones, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins) So the reverse legend actually means “Constantinian victory” and the victory was the Battle of Chrysopolis (A.D. 324) in which Licinius was defeated.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1149221[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The small captive on the reverse was also a symbol of victory. So much victory symbolism packed into one coin!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Following this victory, four entirely new coins were struck only for Constantine from Constantinople--GLORIA EXERCITVS, GLORIA ROMANORVM, LIBERTAS PVBLICA, and SPES PVBLIC. </p><p><a href="http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/war/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/war/" rel="nofollow">http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/war/</a></p><p>It was during these issues that the bust types changed from laurel to diadem. Philostorgius (Greek historian A.D. 368- 439) said that Constantine began wearing the diadem as a sign "of his sole rule and Victory over opponents." The fifth coin in the victory series, DAFNE types, was also only struck for Constantine.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This anepigraphic type is not listed in RIC VII. According to Speck and Huston in "Constantine's Dafne Coinage at Constantinople" (1992), note 8, there were three specimens of this coin in the Bankhaus H. Aufhaeuser Munich auctions 7. 1990, 777; 8, 1991, 704; and 9, 1992, 522.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>However, this type was known much earlier and somehow forgotten.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Jules Maurice mentioned an unpublished coin with diademed head and no legend..."une tete diademee sans legende" (pg 514 #3) in his 1911 book "Numismatique Constantinienne"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This type was even illustrated in the Otto Voetter catalogue of 1909 “Constantinvs Junior Inbesonders seine Münzen als Augustus und die gleichzeitigen Kupferprägungen in den römischen Münzstätten”</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1149222[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>RIC also misdescribes the reverse as Victory holding two palm branches, when it is actually a palm and a laurel branch. Voetter noticed the difference between the branches in his 1921 Gerin catalogue "Victoria mit Zweig und Palmzweig" (Victory with branch and palm branch).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>And to end on a speculative note--</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>At some point, the pagan Victory also became the Christian angel. In this transition, the image of Victory did not even change. She still had wings and is depicted with the victor's wreath and palm. "This is perhaps the only case in which the transition from pagan goddess to Christian angel is perfectly clear." (Harold Mattingly, The Man in the Roman Street.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/DAFNE/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/DAFNE/" rel="nofollow">http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com//DAFNE/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Victor_Clark, post: 4655688, member: 10613"]My newest acquisition is this anepigraphic (no legend) coin from Constantinople. [ATTACH=full]1149220[/ATTACH] Constantine I A.D. 327 21mm 3.2g OBV. Anepigraphic: rosette diademed head, looking up to heavens REV. CONSTANTINIANA DAFNE; Victory seated l. on cippus, palm branch in left hand and laurel branch in right hand, looking r.; trophy at front, at the foot is a kneeling captive with head turned being spurned by Victory; E in left. in ex. CONS Constantinople mint The obverse is the famous “eyes to heaven” bust, likely inspired by Alexander the Great coins. "How deeply his soul was impressed by the power of divine faith may be understood from the circumstance that he directed his likeness to be stamped on the golden coin of the empire with eyes uplifted as in the posture of prayer to God: and this money became current throughout the Roman world." (Eusebius IV.15) The reverse has an interesting legend CONSTANTINIANA DAFNE; which translates as Constantinian Dafne. The word dafne in Greek (daphne) means laurel; which is a symbol of victory. (see Jones, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins) So the reverse legend actually means “Constantinian victory” and the victory was the Battle of Chrysopolis (A.D. 324) in which Licinius was defeated. [ATTACH=full]1149221[/ATTACH] The small captive on the reverse was also a symbol of victory. So much victory symbolism packed into one coin! Following this victory, four entirely new coins were struck only for Constantine from Constantinople--GLORIA EXERCITVS, GLORIA ROMANORVM, LIBERTAS PVBLICA, and SPES PVBLIC. [URL]http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/war/[/URL] It was during these issues that the bust types changed from laurel to diadem. Philostorgius (Greek historian A.D. 368- 439) said that Constantine began wearing the diadem as a sign "of his sole rule and Victory over opponents." The fifth coin in the victory series, DAFNE types, was also only struck for Constantine. This anepigraphic type is not listed in RIC VII. According to Speck and Huston in "Constantine's Dafne Coinage at Constantinople" (1992), note 8, there were three specimens of this coin in the Bankhaus H. Aufhaeuser Munich auctions 7. 1990, 777; 8, 1991, 704; and 9, 1992, 522. However, this type was known much earlier and somehow forgotten. Jules Maurice mentioned an unpublished coin with diademed head and no legend..."une tete diademee sans legende" (pg 514 #3) in his 1911 book "Numismatique Constantinienne" This type was even illustrated in the Otto Voetter catalogue of 1909 “Constantinvs Junior Inbesonders seine Münzen als Augustus und die gleichzeitigen Kupferprägungen in den römischen Münzstätten” [ATTACH=full]1149222[/ATTACH] RIC also misdescribes the reverse as Victory holding two palm branches, when it is actually a palm and a laurel branch. Voetter noticed the difference between the branches in his 1921 Gerin catalogue "Victoria mit Zweig und Palmzweig" (Victory with branch and palm branch). And to end on a speculative note-- At some point, the pagan Victory also became the Christian angel. In this transition, the image of Victory did not even change. She still had wings and is depicted with the victor's wreath and palm. "This is perhaps the only case in which the transition from pagan goddess to Christian angel is perfectly clear." (Harold Mattingly, The Man in the Roman Street.) [URL='http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/DAFNE/']http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com//DAFNE/[/URL][/QUOTE]
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