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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Meat man, post: 8349230, member: 135271&quot;]I purchased this coin recently in a group lot. Although it&#039;s in very nice condition (much better-looking than my lousy photos indicate) it&#039;s nothing special, just a small and quite common coin of the Late Roman Empire. </p><p>Still, I got a lot of enjoyment from researching the coin, hunting up references, deciphering the mintmark, learning what all the abbreviations mean, and the history behind them. </p><p>Perhaps being a more common coin spurred me to dig into the history a bit deeper to find something more interesting about it. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, here is the coin and a brief summary of what I learned from it:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1481205[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Constantine I (the Great)</p><p>AE3. Gallia, Arelate mint. A.D. 321</p><p>Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head of Constantine I right</p><p>Reverse: D(ominus) N(oster) CONSTANTINI MAX(imus) AVG(ustus) clockwise along edge, VOT(is), dot, X X within laurel wreath; mintmark P [crescent] A below (Arelate mint)</p><p>2.7 grams, 18.5mm</p><p>Reference: RIC VII Arelate 233</p><p>From the Kermit C. Smyth collection. CNG eAuction 515, lot 795/6</p><p><br /></p><p>Roughly translated, the reverse inscription reads &quot;Our Lord Constantine, the Greatest, The Exalted and Venerable One,&quot; and the words in the wreath: &quot;Vows for twenty (X X) year&#039;s rule.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Constantine the Great, after overcoming Maxentius, assumed the superlative MAX., which was afterwards conferred on Constans, and Valens.&quot; - A Dictionary of Roman Coins, pub. 1889 (Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312, nine years prior to this coin&#039;s minting.)</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;The word VOTA (or VOTIS, often abbreviated to VOT) is very common on late Roman imperial coins, usually associated with Roman numerals. This has nothing to do with voting but rather refers to a custom of public vows for the health of the emperor, accompanied by sacrifices, performed on important anniversaries.&quot; - Coinweek, Dec. 7, 2020 online article</p><p><br /></p><p>Please let me know if there&#039;s something I need to correct in my descriptions! </p><p><br /></p><p>Also, feel free to post your own fun &quot;boring&quot; coins or whatever else you find relevant![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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