Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 2529549, member: 19463"]Most of the coins shown here have been very late in the reign of Constantine and rather small.  I'll throw out one from his early period when Maxentius (known mostly for losing at Milvian bridge) was Augustus in Rome and recognized Constantine as Caesar with the issue of coins that look more like Maxentius than 'normal' Constantines.  Being early, it can be larger (AE1) which never hurts collectability. [ATTACH=full]540442[/ATTACH] Constantine, as son and heir of the Augustus Constantius I believed he should be Augustus succeeding his father rather than just Caesar.  Eastern ruler Galerius had other ideas (Licinius) but attempted to placate Constantine and Maximinus II with the creation of a new title 'Son of the Augustus' or FIL AVG issuing coins from mints under his control (Heraclea below). This title did not go over so well either but gave us some other 'different' Constantine AE1 coins. [ATTACH=full]540443[/ATTACH] Finally, after Constantine had convinced the world that he was not going away quietly, he issued a few AE1 coins with title Augustus.  Not too long after this, the follis (standard coin) shrank to a point that we no longer have AE1 size coins for the rest of his life.  My example of the later big coin is a Mars reverse from Trier.[ATTACH=full]540444[/ATTACH] There are many coins of Constantine but an overview collection needs representation from the early, larger issues.[/QUOTE]