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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lrbguy, post: 24601607, member: 88829&quot;]Very good, that is the usual reading of the situation, and I don&#039;t discount it. However....</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin I showed is Thessalonica 161 in RIC VII for Fausta, and was minted from 326-328.&nbsp; It is one of two types for her, one with SALVS, and this one with SPES, from that mint, and it is more common by far than the issue with Salus.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The problem is, Fausta was executed at Constantine&#039;s order in 326 and a <i>damnatio memoriae</i> decree issued that same year.&nbsp; Hence to knowingly continue minting coins in her honor for two years would have been a contradiction of the Imperial order. Patrick Bruun (editor of RIC VII) disputes the interpretation of this coin given by Jules Maurice that it was a slip up.&nbsp; Bruun maintains that the figure is indeed Fausta but made up to appear as Helena.&nbsp; In that way sympathetic officials were able to honor the deceased, whom they apparently respected, without joining her.</p><p><br /></p><p>Based on the relative rarities, it would seem they stopped minting the Salus type altogether and issued this alternative instead.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thoughts?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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