Ancient Rome - AD 307-337 Constantine I the Great, Reduced Follis NGC UNC Ex.Byzantium Hoard

Constantine the Great was Roman emperor who ruled from 307-337 A.D. He won great victories against many adversaries, including other Romans who were either proclaimed emperor of who tired to usurp him. His most infamous victory was the defeat of Maxentius, the Roman Emperor from 286 to 305 A.D. But he is more widely known to history as the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity. He abolished the idols, gods and goddesses formerly worshipped by the Roman populace and made Christianity the established religion of the state.

It is believed that Constantine turned to Christianity after seeing a miraculous cross in the heavens during his battle with Maxentius at Turin. This wonder was seen in the heavens before his whole army, namely, a bright cross of light in the noon-tide sky with the words plainly to be traced round it, 'In hoc signo vinces' meaning "In this sign thou shalt conquer."

Constantine proclaimed himself a Christian from then on forward. As Constantine the Great, he issued an edict promising the Christians his favor and protection.

Witnessing Rome, which had so long been the capital of the world, descend from a globally dominant position to a mere provincial city, Constantine decided to build a new city on the site of ancient Byzantium. It would be called Constantinople and it would be completed by 330 A.D.

Ancient Roman coins minted during the fourth century were hand struck by slaves. Before minting coins though, someone had to make a die. Two dies had to be engraved, the obverse, or front, typically had the bust of the emperor surrounded by the obverse legend which generally consisted of the name of the ruler, and the reverse, or back, which could consist of various types with different messages.

Before the minting process, employees prepared metal by melting it and generally they used circular moulds to make coin sized planchets. The engraver made the obverse die so that it would fit into an anvil, while the reverse die looked similar to a large punch. Now the tricky and potentially dangerous part began as one slave held the planchet with a tong between the anvil and punch, while another swung a very large, heavy hammer. The mint workers did this repeatedly, and they managed to turn out a remarkably uniform product. Of course, as these coins were struck by hand, no two would be exactly the same. Using different dies, since they wore out fairly frequently, also meant that there was quite a bit of variety. After the planchet has been struck, numismatists often refer to the body of the coin as the flan, even though sometimes the term is interchangeable.

The specific name of these coins is unknown, but modern numismatists regularly refer to the standard unit of this period as a follis (plural folles). Folles have a copper base and were coated with silver.

Other Uncirculated NGC certified coins from the Byzantine Hoard of Constantinople include:

1. Roman Emperor Licinius I 308-324AD, whom Constantine the Great defeated
2. Roman Emperor Constantine II 317-337AD, son of Constantine the Great
3. Roman Emperor Constantine II 324-337AD, son of Constantine the Great