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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Heliodromus, post: 8016525, member: 120820&quot;]Here&#039;s the first Christian symbol on a common coin, RIC VII Ticinum 45 from 316 AD. Maybe no coincidence that it&#039;s from the same mint as the Chi-Rho medallion. Note though that the field marks &quot;+&quot; and &quot;*&quot; are control marks most likely chosen by the mint, not part of the design itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1390203[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1390204[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>These are my coins/photos - you&#039;re welcome to use them.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, if you want to talk about <i>historians</i> 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 &quot;Vita Constantini&quot; (The Life of Constantine) written by bishop Eusebius shortly after Constantine&#039;s death, or even Constantine&#039;s own writings.</p><p><br /></p><p>Eusebius&#039;s &quot;Life&quot; 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&#039;t find any mention there of Constantine killing a half dozen of his own family members, or other such unsavory matters.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s a tough subject - whole books have been written about it![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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