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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Heliodromus, post: 8218279, member: 120820&quot;]I&#039;m a bit late to the party here. Lar&#039;s paper, linked by [USER=56653]@seth77[/USER] is definitely key to understanding this type.</p><p><br /></p><p>These are a special issue type/denomination promoting the upgraded Constantinian family/dynasty after he attained sole rule in 324 AD, after the defeat of Licinius. In 324 AD Constantine had just elevated Fausta and Helena from Nob. Fem. to Augustae, and appointed Constantius II as caesar - now joining the earlier appointed caesars Constantine II and Crispus.</p><p><br /></p><p>There seem to be four grouping of coins:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) The first city to issue the type was Antioch in 324-325, likely during Constantine&#039;s presence in the city (see appendix 2 of Lar&#039;s paper for evidence of this visit). The Antioch coins stand out in a number of ways:</p><p>- They include Fausta and Helena</p><p>- There were two issues (SMANT, SMANT dot)</p><p>- The coins are quite plentiful (at least relative to the other mints)</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Aside from Antioch, most of the coins appear to have been issued en-route as Constantine took his entire family on a leisurely tour from the east, starting in Nicomedia in 325 AD, to Rome for his vicennial celebrations there in 326 AD. The itinerary and dates can be derived from entries in the Theodosian code attesting Constantine&#039;s presence in these cities (see Lar&#039;s paper for details). The final stop on the tour was Rome itself, with the Rome coins issued at this time being rare and unlisted (again, see Lar&#039;s paper). These Rome coins have the mintmark SMRA (note greek officina &quot;A&quot;), include Crispus (still alive at this point), and have a star on the reverse for the caesars, the same as at the other mints. Coins for Constantine himself from this Rome issue have yet to surface, but presumably exist and will have a laureate bust.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) There are coins from Trier (including many unofficial copies), and perhaps Lyons and Arles as well (if these extremely rare coins are official) that don&#039;t appear to have been on the vicennial tour itinerary, and are therefore harder to precisely date other than also being from 324-326 (with laureate bust for Constantine).</p><p><br /></p><p>4) There is a second issue from Rome, that appears to have been issued on a later separate occasion, not associated with the vicennial celebrations. This is the listed issue with SMRP-T mintmark (now latin officina, unlike earlier SMRA greek one), and further differs from the earlier Rome issue in following ways:</p><p><br /></p><p>-&nbsp; Constantine now appears with a draped bust and diademed (unlike the earlier laureate vicennial tour coins)</p><p>- Crispus, now dead, is not included</p><p>- The remaining caesars, Constantine II and Constantius II, now have a wreath on the reverse rather than the star of the vicennial series</p><p>- It is much more common (2nd most common issue to original Antioch one)</p><p><br /></p><p>The &quot;SM&quot; mintmark, and special nature of the coins, strongly suggests these SMRP coins were likely issued when Constantine was present in Rome, with the diadem indicating a date of 327 or later. Lars plausibly suggests a visit to Rome for Helena&#039;s funeral in 328-329 AD.</p><p><br /></p><p>As Walker notes, these &quot;coins&quot; are all well below the prevailing (and following) nummus weight standard, but given that all issues from Antioch c.324-325 to Rome 328-329 appear to be the same standard, it seems the weight reflects their special nature rather than being part of a &quot;transient coinage reform&quot; that saw weights first drop then increase again. The weight of these is roughly 2/3 nummus, but it&#039;s hard to guess if that is how they were actually valued. Despite being underweight they conceivably may even have passed as nummi.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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