Imperial Roman Coin

CONSTANTINE I (the Great), Roman Emperor 306-337 A.D. 

Constantine the Great is known as the father of the Constantinian Dynasty. He is known as the first emperor to convert to Christianity.  Constantine had a part in issuing the Edict of Milan which proclaimed religious tolerance for all religions across the empire. Constantine was a very successful general starting with his defeat of two other emperors, Maxentius and Licinius, during civil wars.  He then led successful campaigns against the Franks, Alamanni, Visigoths, and Sarmatians during his reign.  He built a new imperial residence in the ancient city of Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople.  This city would later be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over 1000 years.  As a result, Constantine was also known as the founder of the Eastern Roman Empire.  Little is really known about Constantine's conversion to Christianity.  It was his sons who used Christian iconography on some of their coins.  There are two well-known stories about his vision of the cross in the sky before a big battle (starting the tradition of the use of the chi-rho symbol in military, state and religious events) and his deathbed baptism.

 

SOLI INVICTUS

Sol – Roman Sun God

Sol Invictus means "unconquered sun".  The Sol (Sun god) cult of worship was one of the more popular religious cults during this time in the Roman Empire. The Feast of Sol Invicta was celebrated on December 25, the Roman date of the winter solstice. It was considered to be the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. The Latin name for the festival was  Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun."   Within a hundred years (after the Constantinian Dynasty and into the reign of Theodosius), this cult had been banned by the Roman government, which had proclaimed Christianity as the state religion.  The festival had been turned into Christmas (the new birthdate of Christ) with later Byzantine depictions of the radiate (halo) Christ.

 

While previous emperors dedicated the coins to "Soli Invicto," Constantine & Licinius coins are dedicated to "Soli Invicto Comiti". The word comiti, during imperial ages indicated a minister of the emperor (That's how the feudal title "count" originated).  Even the two consuls where called "comites" (check on Du Cange glossarium of mediae et infimae latinitatis).  The legend therefore reads: "to the unconquered Sun, minister (of the Emperor)." Basically it indicated that Sun was the maximum agency in the sky, as the Emperor was on the earth; but both where subordinated to God (this paragraph quoted from Forum Ancient Coins).

This coin was struck in the ancient city of Siscia, which was the chief town and colony of the province of Pannonia in what is now called Sisak, Croatia.  Built over the ancient Roman city, most excavations encounter ancient walls, constructions, monuments and inscriptions.  This coin was struck in one of many officinae or workshops in the city.  Officinae were designated by a different letter of the Greek or Roman alphabets (in the case of this coin by the letter gamma indicating that it was struck in the 3rd officina), or by certain recognizable symbols such as palm branches, dots, stars, and sunrises.

CONSTANTINE I, AE Follis   (19-21 mm, 3.65 gm)

OBV:  IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right

REV:  SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Sol standing left, chlamys across left shoulder, holding globe and raising right hand; star to left

 EXE:  ΓSIS          Siscia mint        RIC 31       317 A.D.        rated RARE 4

As usual, the pictures really don't do justice. Let me know if you have questions.