Hey gang, been a while. Just picked up a primo roman bronze of Helena, Constantine I's mother, & thought I'd share. Helena / Mother of Constantine I / Siscia Mint Attribution: RIC 204 (RIC VII) Mint: Siscia, ESIS Date: 326-327 AD Obverse: FL HELENA AUGUSTA, Helena facing right Reverse: SECURITAS REIPUBLICE, Helena standing left, holding branch, SMHB. in exergue Size: 18mm x 20.5mm Weight: 3.2 grams
Anemic oak' Thanks for sharing.to tell you the truth,I didn't even know there were coins of Helena.She was one of the most interesting ladies in history.Constantine sent her on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land at the age of 80+ to try to re-establish christian churches and attempt to find holy relics.Supposedly she found the true cross and brought it back to Constantinople. Gotta get me one of those coins!
AnemicOak, I went ahead and ordered a Helena coin from ForumAncientCoins.Not as nice as yours but for $25,I couldn't resist.I'll post a pic in 5-6 days when it arrives....it's all your fault. Thanks a lot pal!
No problem Now that I've got a nice Saint Helena I need to find a primo example of Constantine's wife Fausta (who was excecuted by boiling to death ).
Helena Arrives! OK as promised here is my "budget" Helena coin.I wasn't aware until I got it that it was a silvered bronze coin.You can still see a lot of the silvering,especially on the obv. Thanks AnemicOak for clueing me onto this coin.:smile
Wrong goddess?? Hey AnemicOak, I was just browsing through the coins of Helena on Wildwinds...all 27 of them and discovered that you and I MAY have the figure on the reverse wrong.I put PAX on mine because that's what the good folks at Forum Coins had on the label.You have Helena holding the branch.Wildwinds says (on 26 of the 27) SECVRITAS holding branch.Only one says it's Helena and I believe that's a mistake.All of the figures look to be the same and apparently,this was the one and only Helena coin type. The easy explanation could be that it's Helena AS Securitas.The same thing happened on the reverse of the Tiberius "biblical tribute" coins.His mother Livia is represented as the goddess PAX.
