Constantine the Great
 
 

Constantine the Great coins from the
          monneron hoard

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine
            the Great coins from the Monneron hoard
 

WARNING!!!!!







       These are coins that were sold by ‘monneron’ on E-bay. Many have condemned these coins as fake. I own several and have no reason to believe that they are anything other than genuine. I even have a campgate that I had certified by David Sear (I hoped to silence some of the naysayers...to little avail!). I talked with Mr. Sear on the phone about the origin of the coin and he found no reason to doubt the authenticity. Part of the problem is the original scan from monneron. I bought one and it looked completely different from the picture on E-bay.
       There was a green ‘patina’ on these coins, which was fairly thick in some areas of the coins (this enhanced the strange look of the coins in the pictures). Maybe this is the result of fertilizers used where the coins were buried or the result of the method used to clean the coins…I do not know…or really care. I do not care because it does not preclude the coins from being genuine. The green can be removed quite easily and then it is very clear that there is nothing stylistically wrong with these coins. Rather than having to prove why these are real, I would like people to show why they are fake… without mentioning the patina.
       Many people have lost all sense of objectivity regarding these coins. Here is a definition of objectivity- expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations. If you have made up your mind that they are fakes, then you have lost your objectivity; and all you are able to see are fakes.
 

         In each picture there is a before and after shot, the coin image on the top is the before. It is the original image from the E-bay auction.The coin on the bottom is the after shot, some have had a little cleaning, others had nothing done to them except a new picture taken.
 
 

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine I
A.D. 322-323
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG laureate head only
BEATA TRAN-QVILLITAS
PLG C R
RIC VII Lyons 153 c2

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine I
A.D. 322
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG laureate, wearing trabea, holding eagle-tipped scepter in right hand
BEATA TRAN-QVILLITAS VO / TIS / XX
STR dot
RIC VII Trier 342 c2

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the
            Great

Constantinopolis Commemorative
A.D. 335
Obv. CONSTAN-TINOPOLI laureate, helmeted, wearing imperial mantle, holding reversed spear
Rev. Victory stg. on prow, holding long scepter in r. hand, and resting l. hand on shield.
Pine tree in left field, in ex. PCONST
RIC VII Arles 393 r4

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine
            the Great

Constantinopolis Commemorative
A.D. 335
Obv. CONSTAN-TINOPOLI laureate, helmeted, wearing imperial mantle, holding reversed spear
Rev. Victory stg. on prow, holding long scepter in r. hand, and resting l. hand on shield.
Pine tree in left field, in ex. PCONST
RIC VII Arles 393 r4

I stripped this one and used Dellar's Darkener to to give it a darker patina.

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the Great

Constantine I
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG
PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG
ARLS S F
RIC VII Arles 309 S

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the Great

Constantine I
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG pearl-diadem
PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG
PCONST S F
RIC VII Arles 318 C1

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the Great

Constantine I
A.D. 323-4
Obv. CONSTANTINVS AVG head laureate
Rev. SARMATIA DEVICTA [On the occasion of Sarmatia being conquered] Victory advancing r., holding trophy, palm branch, spurning captive std. on ground to r.
C in left field, PLG crescent in ex.
RIC VII Lyons 214 c1
.
WARNING!!!!!

Constantine
            the Great

Constantine I
A.D. 328
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG pearl-diadem
VIRTV-S AVGG [the valor of our Emperors] gateway with wide open doors, four turrets, star above.
S F, in ex. SCONST
RIC VII Arles 321 c1

Certificate of
            authenticity
 Take a look at the certificate of authenticity.

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine
            the Great

Constantine I
A.D. 320-1
AE 3
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG Laureate head only
DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG VOT XX [20 year vows of our Lord, Constantine, the greatest emperor]
RIC VII Ticinum 140 c2

there is no reason to suspect this coin; and actually having it in hand, I enthusiastically declare its authenticity (for what my opinion is worth!). The coin on the bottom of the top pic has had nothing done to it, just re-scanned.

Constantine
            the Great

This is the same coin after some cleaning. The original silvering is clearly visible.

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine
            the Great

Constantine I
CONSTAN-TINVS AVG
DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG VOT XXX
crescent in centre ST
RIC VII Ticinum 174 r1

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the
            Great

VRBS ROMA
TR dot P Trier
RIC VII Trier 542 c3

WARNING!!!!!

Constantine the Great

VRBS ROMA
A.D. 333-4
Obv. VRBS-ROMA [City of Rome] Roma, helmeted, wearing imperial cloak.
Rev. She-wolf left with twins (Romulus and Remus); above, two stars. wreath (with dot) in centre
PCONST
RIC VII Arles 379 r3

WARNING!!!!!

Further reading

Ron Bude & Mark Benvenuto, "Chemical Composition of a Group of Late Roman Bronzes, The So-called "Monneron" Coins." The Celator 20 (September 2006): 22-31,34.
 

Links

CGB Bulletin number 12, page 10 (in French) PDF or jpeg link here

Frederic Weber's page about the monerron coins

FORVM topic about monerron

Monerron on E-bay
 
 

last modified on 31 July 2007

Constantine the Great