Owner Comments:
If you have ever relocated, you appreciate the great deal of planning, expense, and effort involved. Now, imagine expanding that complexity to the scale of an entire city. Add the fact that this city is the capital of an Empire, and the new metropolis must be constructed simultaneously from the ground up. Finally, imagine the staggering difficulty of executing all this without the aid of modern technology.
Yet, that gargantuan task is exactly what Constantine pulled off when he moved the Empire's capital from Rome to Byzantium. The physical construction took roughly six years of unrelenting labor. To fund this epochal undertaking without collapsing the imperial treasury, Constantine began stripping the accumulated wealth of ancient pagan temples across the Empire. He then deployed tens of thousands of legionaries — the master engineers of the ancient world — alongside a massive workforce of artisans to execute his vision. On May 11, 330 AD, the newly christened capital of Constantinople was officially inaugurated. That such an unprecedented logistical feat was even considered, let alone successfully carried out, is striking.
The sheer enormity of this task begs the question: why go through all the trouble? The answer lies in the urgency to secure the realm's long-term survival. The Empire had miraculously survived the catastrophic Crisis of the Third Century, but its geopolitical center of gravity had permanently shifted. The ancient capital was now geographically isolated from the Empire's true wealth and its most pressing military frontiers along the Danube and the Persian border. Furthermore, Rome remained deeply entrenched in traditional paganism, anchored by a conservative, powerful senatorial elite. In context, it made perfect strategic sense for Constantine to shift the center of his power from West to East. It is no wonder that almost immediately after defeating his final rival, Licinius, in 324 AD, Constantine selected the location of the new capital, began construction, and set the unyielding deadline for its grand inauguration.
To build this magnificent capital and entice the Roman elite to uproot their lives, enormous wealth and logistical control were required. Constantine established a second Senate in his new city, aggressively luring Western patricians eastward with lavish estates, free grain distributions, and high-ranking titles. To ensure payment for all the involved parties, it was a high priority to establish a local mint. Within just a year and a half, the Empire had not only launched a new mint, but also its largest, comprising no fewer than eleven
officinae (workshops)
More than establishing a new mint, Constantine executed a massive numismatic overhaul unparalleled in Roman history: a complete, simultaneous replacement of the Empire’s circulating bronze currency. Virtually overnight, the production of all existing coin types was halted at mints spanning from Lugdunum in the West to Antioch in the East. In their place, a strictly controlled, Empire-wide propaganda campaign was launched to ensure no citizen could possibly remain ignorant of his new world order.
This unprecedented propaganda campaign materialized as a massive, carefully paired series of commemorative coins celebrating both the old and new imperial capitals. In a stunning departure from standard Roman currency, these new issues completely omitted the name and portrait of the Emperor himself. Instead, they featured the divine personifications of the two capitals. To visually enforce their exact equality, Constantine mandated that the mints produce the two distinct types in virtually a 50/50 split, comprising over 99% of the empire's circulating commemorative bronze. Half of the production was dedicated to VRBS ROMA (the City of Rome). Its reverse featured the ancient she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, a calculated diplomatic move designed to reassure the West that their mythological foundations remained deeply revered. The other half was dedicated to CONSTANTINOPOLIS (the City of Constantine). Its reverse featured a winged Victory standing on the prow of a warship, a direct nod to the naval triumph that secured Constantine's absolute power.
Unlike the retrospective VRBS ROMA issues atop this Gallery Page that honor a glorious mythological past, the Constantinopolis city commemoratives, such as this example, were aggressively forward-looking. In a striking departure from standard portraiture, the obverse features the newly personified Tyche (guardian spirit) of Constantinople. Wearing a laureate helmet and wielding a scepter over her shoulder, she projects fresh, undisputed imperial authority. The reverse is equally triumphant, featuring a winged Victory standing proudly on the prow of a warship. This is a direct, hard-hitting historical callback to the pivotal naval victory at the Hellespont in 324 AD, where an underdog fleet led by Constantine's son Crispus annihilated the armada of Eastern Augustus Licinius. This specific naval triumph allowed Constantine to capture Byzantium, paving the way for his sole rule and the foundation of his namesake city.
The reverse of this coin includes the exergue mark TRS•, denoting that it was struck in Treveri (modern-day Trier, Germany) at the
Secunda (second)
officina (workshop). The trailing dot after the letters probably served as an internal administrative control mark to track production batches. One can only imagine the sensitivity of this coin's imagery to the citizens of Treveri, the "Rome of the North" and Constantine's primary imperial base from 306 to 312 AD. Twice the metropolis's denizens had been snubbed by the Emperor in favor of another capital: first during the 312 AD march on Rome to displace Maxentius, and again with the 330 AD move to Constantinople.
It is important to note that in the specific design of this coin, Constantine employed a careful diplomatic touch. To glorify his namesake city without alienating his western and northern subjects, he anchored the new capital's identity in deeply traditional Roman iconography. While the obverse introduced the new deity and capital city of the East, the reverse relied on the tried-and-true, universally revered figure of Victory. Furthermore, depicting Victory standing on the prow of a ship, holding a spear and a shield, tapped into a long-established tradition in Roman coinage dating back centuries to the likes of Emperors Vespasian and Trajan. With these symbols of martial dominance understood by every Roman, Constantine advertised to his subjects at Treveri — and all the cities in the Empire — that his triumph in the East charted the course for a new Golden Age.
Additional Reading: "Coins and Medallions struck for the Inauguration of Constantinopolis 11 May 330," L. Ranskold, June 2010, Conference: Niš & Byzantium, Volume IX.
ROMAN EMPIRE, Constantinian, City Commemorative, circa 330-331 AD, BI Nummus, Trier mint, NGC Grade: MS, Obverse: laureate, helmeted and mantled bust of Constantinopolis left holding scepter, CONSTAN-TINOPOLIS, Reverse: Victory standing front, looking left, foot on prow, holding scepter in right hand and resting left hand on shield, TRS• in exergue. RIC VII 530; Sear 16444.
Image: Sony ɑ 7R Ⅴ camera / Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens.