What is the first coin of Constantine?

TL; DR: What was the first bronze coin of Constantine the Great?

So I’m trying to figure out what should be a fairly easy question to answer: What is the earliest coin of Constantine? I suppose I’m looking for the earliest bronze coin since I might be able to afford it. But I would also be interested to know what is the first coin, period, of any metal.

Looking at RIC VI, I think it’s one of the London issues; e.g., RIC VI London 66. But I confess, I’m having a hard time understanding RIC’s discussion of the timeline. The coin comes from issues at London “Group II.” Then RIC divides Group II into Period One and Period Two. Period Two features Constantine as one of the Caesars after July 25, 306. So from this detail, I would assume that RIC VI London 66 was struck sometime after July 306.

But then RIC gives us an annoying footnote stating that “it is impossible to distinguish clearly the coinage of the two periods.” That muddies the water a bit. Is it possible, then, that this early Constantine coin was struck in 305, perhaps in anticipation of Constantine joining the imperial college at some point? Or should we still say after July 306, the death of Constantius? Is there an earlier coin of Constantine? The photo of RIC VI London 66 is from Victor Clark, I think. I can’t remember how I got it.

 

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306 is probably the correct date. Coins of Constantine were minted at several different mints during this time. One might assume that the London coins were minted first since that's where he was when he was named Caesar, but I don't think that there is any concrete proof of this. The first 4 coins on this page were all minted during this time, but there were many others, too: http://feltemp.com/Constantine_1.html

 

Thanks Glenn. I’ve got coin number two there. I’ll keep an eye out for the others.

 

History tells us that before Constantine took the title of Caesar, he allowed his troops to proclaim him Augustus, then accepted a demotion in exchange for official recognition as Caesar under Severus II. I'm a little surprised that there are no 306 AD (i.e. >10g) folles of Constantine as a technical usurper?

 

That's an interesting question. Perhaps events moved so rapidly that Constantine was recognized as a member of the imperial college before he had to spend too much time holding usurper status. Your query sent me to Timothy Barnes’s most recent Constantine biography, which is a formidable product of great erudition. Barnes stresses that Constantine was never fully a usurper since he was appointed Augustus by his dying father, but Galerius ratified Constantine’s entrance into the imperial college not as Augustus, but as Caesar. It seems Constantius and Galerius then were haggling a bit over the status of Constantine’s title shortly prior to Constantius’s death. Perhaps coins weren’t struck with Constantine as Augustus in 306 because Constantine sought formal approval from Galerius for his title upgrade once he had been acclaimed by his father’s troops. Barnes:

“By the spring of 306 Constantius was ailing, and it was presumably his medical condition that compelled him to remain in York into the campaigning season of 306. Before he died, however, he exercised his right as the senior of the two Augusti to appoint a new emperor to the imperial college--or at least he was widely believed to have exercised it before he expired, which in political terms amounted to the same thing, as Galerius was quick to recognize. … In 306 the new senior emperor Galerius accepted Constantine as a legitimate member of the imperial college, though only at the lower rank of Caesar.

Constantius had co-opted his son into the imperial college as an Augustus, disallowing the automatic promotion of his unlucky Caesar Severus to the higher imperial rank which he expected, and as soon as Constantius was dead his appointment of his son was ratified by his troops, who saluted Constantine as Augustus. The new ruler of Britain, Gaul and Spain immediately sent the customary laureled letter to Galerius in which he both announced his appointment by his father and his salutation as Augustus by his father's army and requested recognition from the new senior Augustus as his father's successor. Galerius, who was perhaps on campaign on the Danube, as he so often was in the first decade of the fourth century, was implacably opposed to recognizing as his equal in rank one whom he had excluded from the imperial college fifteen months earlier. But what could he do? He was in no position to dispute Constantine's claim that his father had appointed him to the imperial college. Constantine was in undisputed command of his father's army … Lactantius reports that Galerius hesitated long … Whatever his hesitations, he had no choice but to accept the new military and political reality established on 25 July 306 in distant York.

Galerius offered Constantine a compromise. At a date which fell after the beginning of the new regnal year in Egypt on 30 August 306 … he co-opted Constantine into the imperial college on his own authority, but at the lower rank of Caesar. Constantine made the wise decision to accept this appointment, since it made him a full and undisputed member of the imperial college acknowledged from September 306 as a legitimate emperor throughout the Roman Empire …”

(Constantine: Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire, pp. 63-64

 

The coin pictured below is my oldest example of a coin of Constantine I as Caesar, struck at the Trier Mint (his military base). The coin is in excellent condition with a trace of silvering on the obverse, but the reverse has some roughness. Notice Genius is wearing a turreted crown instead of the usual modius. The coin below it is an early example of Constantine I as Augustus, also from the Trier Mint, in choice condition. Notice the drop,in weight between the two coins.


Constantine I as Caesar, AD 306-307, Trier Mint, AE: 9.50 gm, 27 mm. Sear 15526


Constantine I as Augustus, AD 307-308, Trier Mint, AE: 5.40 gm, 26 mm, 5h. RIC VI 776, Sear 16008.

 

Those are beautiful examples, Al. In their catalog of the London mint of Constantius and Constantine, Cloke and Toone include a generous discussion of the headgear of Genius on the top coin type. And that is a pretty steep drop. 4g! Do we know why these folles lose so much weight in a single year?

BTW, this one is probably my earliest. A fairly rare/scarce issue:

Autumn-December 306 A.D.
26.09 x 29.82 mm
10.38 g. 0°
CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES; laureate and draped bust right, seen from the rear.
VIRTVS AV-GG ET CAESS NN; Mars helmeted advancing right; holding transverse spear, trophy over left shoulder; • in left field.
PT; first officina of the Ticinum mint
RIC VI Ticinum 76

 

Under the Roman way of doing things, being dead compromised Constantius' rank over Galerius. Having a bigger sword restored that position much more effectively. Constantine haters considered him a usurper. Christians thought Galerius got what he deserved on his deathbed. Constantine made a serious error marrying Licinius into his family which prevented him from executing Licinius as a 'usurper' the first time he acted up. Did Constantine have a right to the title of Augustus? Yes. Did that right come from his father or his personal skills? We each can have our opinion on that one.

Constantine as Caesar (by Maxentius)


Diocletian must have realized too late that a Tetrarchy only works when there is some way to control which four comprise it. Orderly succession is the mark of a civilized system of government. This was a concept only slowly being developed at Rome.

 

RIC VI, Londinium, No. 89b, Constantine, Caesar of the West:
CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 5.03.004, c. AD 307, Rarity: R


FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB C ........................... GENIO - POP ROM
PLN in reverse exergue

Draped, laureate, bust facing right
Genius with head towered and loins draped
London mint
Earliest titulature
Issued shortly after the death of Constantius following recognition as Caesar of the West by Galerius
9.3 gm.

 

Gavin, Despite being on the crusty side I like your example & it is certainly a RARE coin . The portrait style & hefty weight lends credence to your example being older than my coin. I don't know why the steep drop in weight . At first I thought my coin was a freak, however, I've seen several other examples with a similar weight, none exceeding 6.0 gm. There must have been an official decree ordering the change that we're not aware off.

 

Yep. The result of a lot of eBay-watching patience + $31!

 

Wow. That huge flan has all the details for sure! I like these jowl-y portraits. Cheeky Constantine.

 

Not necessarily. The weights dropped at different times at different mints. RIC goes into detail about this, but offhand I don't remember if Ticinum maintained the old weight standard longer than Trier.

 

BTW, Gavin, Hugh Cloke is presently on an extended trip to England to glimpse a new hoard now at the British Museum for processing followed by a week at the Ashmolean revisiting the Fyfield hoard for cataloguing (I am envious!). When he returns I will alert him about this thread (he is a CT member) and ask him to contribute here - I am sure he will be able to provide some additional interesting information.

 

I would love to hear what he has to say, @jamesicus. I got to visit both the British Museum and the Ashmolean in July. I don't think the numismatics room at the Ashmolean is open to general visitors, unless they have special business like Cloke has. Still, I did enjoy a Twelve Caesars display there.

 

I thought it might be helpful to list the varieties among the earliest Constantines – the unmarked folles – as given in LMCC (Cloke & Toone)... just didn't get a chance to do so until now. I hope Hugh weighs in at some point, I'd be interested in his answer to your question too. Is one of the 4.04 varieties thought to be the earliest? Maybe those with NOBILI in the obverse legend?

All busts laureate and cuirassed; facing right unless indicated otherwise. ___ = "CONSTANTINVS NOB"...

4.04

.006(RR) draped FL VAL ___ C
.007(RR) draped ___ILI CAES
.008(RR) ___ILI C
.009(R) draped ___ILI C (RIC 66)
.010(RRR) helmeted w/ spear & shield ___ILI C
.011(RR) draped ___IL C (RIC 67b)
.012(RR) ___ CAES
.013(R) draped ___ CAES (RIC 71)
.014(R) draped left w/ spear & shield ___ (RIC 72)
.015(RR) ___ (RIC 73)​

all struck at 32 pieces to the Roman pound for a theoretical weight of 10.08g.

 

That’s great info. Thank you. And a great approach to the question.

 

I should have included my Constantine as Caesar from Lugdunum. I would certainly prefer London!

 

S.A., That's a nice looking coin . What is the weight & diameter ?