Owner Comments:
In 330 AD, Constantine the Great celebrated a gargantuan milestone: the dedication of his new Eastern imperial capital, Constantinople. Building this magnificent city and luring the Roman elite to relocate required enormous wealth, logistical mastery, and the immediate establishment of the Empire's largest mint. To broadcast his new world order, Constantine executed a numismatic overhaul unparalleled in Roman history. He abruptly halted the production of all existing bronze currency across the Empire, replacing it with a massive, strictly controlled propaganda campaign designed to visually enforce the absolute equality of his two capitals.
This unprecedented campaign materialized as a carefully paired series of commemorative coins that stunned the public by completely omitting the Emperor's portrait. Instead, production was split exactly in half between two distinct types representing the divine personifications of the cities. The VRBS ROMA issue featured Roma on one side and the ancient she-wolf on the other to reassure the West of its enduring mythological legacy, while the Constantinopolis issues featured Tyche/Constantinopolis on one side and a winged Victory on a ship's prow on the other to celebrate the triumph that secured Constantine's absolute power. Both of these standard city commemorative issues were struck at all the Empire's mints, using the same basic design; Constantine wanted everyone across the Empire to know that his new Eastern capital was the absolute equal to the ancient heart of Rome, and that both cities were fully united under his unconquered rule.
In addition to the standard city commemorative issues that were struck throughout the realm, the grand inauguration of Constantinopolis demanded a direct, celebratory form of numismatic spectacle. To meet this need, the Constantinople mint also produced a series of diminutive, anepigraphic (legend-lacking) silver medalettes. Weighing roughly 1.34 grams, this specific piece may represent either a siliqua or a half siliqua (NGC Ancients cites both denominations as possible for this coin). No wonder the confusion over the denomination. These rare silver coins were never intended for regular commerce; they were specifically designed as missilia—inaugural largesse intended to be physically thrown directly into the cheering crowds during the festivities.
In keeping with the brilliant simplicity of these fractional celebration issues, this coin strips away all imperial titles, portraits, and city personifications. The obverse simply features a prominent eight-rayed star, while the reverse displays a tied laurel wreath adorned with a central jewel. As with other Constantinian inaugural issues, this minimalist imagery was highly deliberate and profoundly symbolic. Stars on Roman coinage traditionally carried heavy astral or religious significance; here, it likely represents the astrological "birth" of the new Eastern capital, acting as a celestial beacon of divine favor. Enclosing it within a laurel wreath—the ultimate, time-honored Roman symbol of eternal, unconquered triumph—amplified the message. It was a radiant, forward-looking celebration of the new capital's eternal glory, completely free from the clutter of any distracting inscriptions.
Because the design completely lacks identifying marks, accurately dating the coin has historically been a challenge, leading to several rival theories. A nineteenth-century numismatist proposed this coin was a pattern struck by Julian II, who famously utilized star-and-wreath motifs in the 350s AD. Decades later, another numismatist theorized this issue was struck in 359 or 360 AD to commemorate Constantinople officially receiving the rank of a city prefecture.
More modern numismatic research, however, strongly shows an association of this issue to the 330 AD inauguration of Constantinople. Seminal to this conclusion is the specific, intricate engraving style of the laurel wreath that perfectly matches the wreaths found on the bronze POP ROMANVS series, which were struck exclusively for the dedication of Constantinople. Surviving examples of the current silver issue are exceptionally rare today; nearly all known specimens trace back to just two small hoards discovered over a century apart (unfortunately, the current Owner's research to date has failed to find a direct link between this coin and either find). By combining the celestial star of the East with the martial wreath of Rome in pure, gleaming silver, this silver medalette, despite its diminutive size, more than manages to convey Constantine's message, intended to be caught by a lucky citizen at the rebirth of the Roman Empire.
Additional Reading: S Bendall, 2002, "Some comments on the anonymous silver coinage of the fourth to sixth centuries A.D.," Revue Numismatique, 2002: 6(158):139-159.
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Constantinian, Commemorative, Circa AD 330, Constantinople, AR Siliqua(?) (AR Half Siliqua?) (Silver Medalette?) (16mm, 1.34 g), NGC Ch VF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 1/5, Obverse: Eight-rayed star, Reverse: Laurel wreath with central jewel, References: Bendall, Anonymous, type 6; Ramskold, Coins and medallions struck for the Inauguration of Constantinopolis 11 May 330 (2011), p. 149, type 14A (this coin); RIC VII –; RSC –.
Image: NGC Photo Vision Plus.