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Message:: [QUOTE="GinoLR, post: 8087757, member: 128351"][ATTACH=full]1405333[/ATTACH] A follis of Constantine interesting because of its provenance. Constantine I the Great, follis, AE 20mm, 2.77 g, 321-324.Obv.: CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head right; Rev.: D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG,  VOT XX in two lines within wreath, exergue illegible. I found this very circulated coin in an old wallet in my great-grandmother's attic, which was full of old things dating back from the 19th or early 20th c. It was a little leather wallet with small change still inside, copper coins from the late 19th c. There were coins from France but also from Italy or Belgium. It was the time of the "Union Latine" when coins from several European and even South American countries were equivalent and were mixed together in circulation, exactly like today's Euro coins. But I did not know the Roman Empire too was a member of the Union Latine ! And as far as I know, nobody in my family has ever collected ancient coins. Trying to understand what this follis was doing in this wallet, I learned that before the 1st World War, in rural areas, it was not uncommon to accept old demonetized coins as small change, if their module was roughly the same as modern ones. Thanks to its 20 mm module, this old follis could be seen as the equivalent of a 2 centimes coin. I do not think that it has been circulating all the time from the 4th c. It must have been lost in the 4th c., found on the ground by somebody in the 18th or 19th c., added to the small change he had in his pocket and started a second life in everyday circulation. Some people may have refused it, some others may have not noticed and accepted it, especially in rural areas where there was always a lack of small change. NEXT : a very worn, smooth but still identifiable coin.[/QUOTE]

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