In chemical research there is an old saying that 2 hours in the library will save you 20 hours in the lab. However, I have found when you get bogged down or lazy in the library asking a pool of subject matter experts can be a great time saver. Thus I come to you hat in hand. The story thus far. A couple of years ago I compiled a list of ladies whose effigy appears on Roman coins, for collecting purposes. I kind of forgot that I had two Helenas on the list, the first being the mother of Constantine and the second I simply have a note “Wife of Julian.” I have no idea what the source was of the second Helena or why I thought she was on a coin. I finally got around to looking into it and I seem to be journeying down a rabbit hole. I found an article by the British Numismatic Society published in 1853 and that has only made things worse. Apparently they were having the same problem 167 years ago that I have now. The article brings up a third Helena (sandwiched time wise between the two as it were) who supposedly was the wife of Crispus. I am still slogging through this article. So, my original question is: are there coins that “represent” these two additional Helenas? What I am hoping for from somebody is to point me to some more recent scholarship on the question or to something that indicates the latest established wisdom on the issue. I kind of hope that there have been some more recent discoveries of such coins which would clarify the issues. If I have missed something that seems obvious to you, don’t be afraid to flail me. I have plenty of self esteem. I also admit to not turning over too many rocks so far; I am just looking for the easy way out. Thanks.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1896519 Link to a coin depicting Helena, half-sister of Crispus, married to Julian. So it would appear that your Helena II and III are one and the same.
Very interesting! This page includes a link to download a short scholarly article on the recently-discovered coins: http://dissarch.elte.hu/index.php/dissarch/article/view/250
Thank you "Ignoramus Maximus" and "dltsrq." "shanxi" - I assume your 19,000 GBP comment is what the coin sold for (I don't have a log in for that company). That is a piece of change! I heartily suspect that I won't be searching for the buyer to make him an offer this month.
