This was part of a trio of coins I recently purchased from @Valentinian (augustuscoins.com ) .. My Mother's middle name is Helena so I had been looking for a coin of Constantine's influential Mother for some time.. she apparently came from a very common background and became one of the most influential women in history. An amazing story and an amazing woman. Helena AE4. Mother of Constantine the Great and later St. Helena. 16 mm. FL IVL HELENAE AVG PAX PVBLICA CONSE Mint of Constantinople Please post your coins of Helena....
Here is mine!! Helena, Mother of Constantine I. AE Follis, 325-330 AD O: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, Pearl-diademed and mantled bust right, wearing necklace. R:SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left, holding branch pointing down; ∙ΓSIS in ex., Siscia mint, RIC 204. 20 mm, 2.6g
Both lovley examples! I love Helena portraits. I got a little crazy collecting all the different mints and styles many years ago- but I will keep it to a few! Cyzicus Thessalonica Trier Constantinople Thessalonica
This post is missing an Alexandrian coin with African patina. Here Helena looks like how I imagine Agatha Christie looked like when she wrote Death on the Nile. Nice pearls.
Nice example of the Constantinople mint version of that reduced centenionalis, @Clavdivs . You might be interested in the backstory behind this posthumous issue. My example is from the Trier mint. The hairstyle is quite different:
Helena RI Helena mother Constantine AE Follis Securitas Nicomedia mint 325-326 CE 19mm 3.3g RIC-95 Sear 16619
Helena (324 - 330 A.D) Æ3 O: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right. R: SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left. Siscia Mint, 5th offcina 19mm 2.8g RIC 218
I only have one Helena.Here she is : FL HELENA AVGUSTA SECVRITAS REIPVPLICE Heraclae RIC VII 95e Also this is the sarcophagus of Helena, the coffin where she was buried. It is now located in the Vatican’s museum and measure almost 8 feet tall. On the sides we can see busts, a man on the right with a laurel wreath, probably Constantius Chlorus, and a woman on the left, which has a certain similarity with the images of Helena known on the coins.
