Roman Empire, Constantine I., AE Follis

Three AE Folles of Constantine the Great:

Obv. Bust of the city‘s goddess Constantinopolis

Rv. Goddess of Victory – Victoria – on prora

ca. 18mm, ca. 4,00g, vf-ef

Obv. Helmeted and armoured bust right

Rv. The Capitoline Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus

ca. 18mm, ca. 2,00g, vf-ef

Obv. Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust facing right

Rv. Sol standing left, holding globe, right hand raised, chlamys across left shoulder

ca. 20mm, ca. 4,50g, near ef

Please note:

All images are stock images. You are buying the same type of coin in the same condition, not the piece shown.
 

Historical facts about the Set Constantine the Great

Flavius Valerius Constantinus was born between the years 270 - 288 in Naissus and died in 337 in Anchyrona (Nicomedia).

Constantine the Great was one of the most important Roman emperors of Late Antiquity from 306 to 337. His rise to power took place in the context of the dissolution of the Roman tetrarchy, the so-called "rule of four", which Emperor Diocletian established in order to stabilise the huge Roman Empire that had arisen by then, both politically and militarily at the borders.

In 306 Constantine succeeded his father Constantius I after his father's soldiers proclaimed him emperor. By 312 Constantine had asserted himself in the west, and in 324 also in the entire empire. His reign was particularly momentous because of the Constantinian turn he initiated, which began the rise of Christianity as the most important religion in the Imperium Romanum.
Since 313, the Milan Agreement guaranteed religious freedom throughout the empire, thus also permitting Christianity, which had still been persecuted a few years earlier.

Subsequently, Constantine privileged Christianity. In 325, he convened the First Council of Nicaea to settle internal Christian disputes. Domestically, Constantine pushed ahead with several reforms that shaped the empire during the rest of late antiquity. In foreign policy, he succeeded in securing and stabilising the borders.
After 324, Constantine moved his residence to the east of the empire, to the city named after him, Constantinople ("Constantine's City").

Victoria, the goddess of victory:
In Roman mythology, Victoria is the deified personification of victory (Latin victoria), patron goddess of the Roman emperor and virgin guardian of the empire. She is the equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike. She was often depicted flying and with a laurel wreath in her right hand as a symbol of victory.

Capitoline she-wolf:
One of the many myths about the beginnings of the city of Rome is the founding story of Romulus and Remus. The Capitoline She-Wolf (Latin: Lupa Capitolina) is a life-size bronze figure of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of the city of Rome. The sculpture is 75 cm high and 114 cm wide and is in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The Lupa Romana is an extremely popular motif on medals, coins, gems, reliefs, mosaics, etc., especially in the Roman imperial period. The Lupa Romana serves as a symbol for the divine origin of the city's founder Romulus, the son of Mars, the god of war, as well as the claim to eternity, the aeternitas, of the city and the empire. Signifying eternity and immortality, the she-wolf occasionally appears on funerary monuments as a sign of imperial claim, especially on objects in the subjugated provinces.

The sun god Sol:
Sol (Latin sol "sun") is the sun god of ancient Roman mythology. He is best known in his common manifestation since the 2nd century AD as Sol invictus (Latin; "unconquered sun god", often less accurately translated as "invincible sun god"). Although Sol corresponds to the Greek Helios, with which he also shows iconographic similarities, he was not adopted from the Greek religion, but is of native origin. Emperor Constantine the Great, after overcoming his opponent Maximian in 310, was a particularly zealous worshipper of Sol Invictus, whom he apparently equated with Apollo.