Cleaning an Ancient Roman Coin: Constantine The Great and the First Christian Coin

While it is the intent of this channel to not promote religious views of any flavor, the historical importance and impact of the reign of Constantine I on Christianity is undeniable. And since in Roman times coins were a tool well suited and oft-used for propaganda, it should come as no surprise that they were also used in promoting the first Christian emperor's views on, well, Christianity. Indeed, by pure luck, the coin featured in this video turned out to be one such example.

In fact, it is generally agreed by historians and numismatists that coins bearing the VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP (VLPP) inscription on the Reverse legend (meaning Joyous Victory to the Eternal Prince) were the first to feature the symbols of Christianity, the Christogram and crucifix. For all we know, this coin carrying a small cross on the altar, minted in Ticinum circa 318-319 AD, could very well have been the first. And if that were not enough to make this coin special, the Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) Rarity scale ranks it as an R3, meaning that at the time it was catalogued, only 4-6 such examples were known to exist. Not bad for a dirty old coin.

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Full Coin Attribution:
Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) Vol. VII
Emperor: Constantine I No. 86
Mint: Ticinum, Second Officina (S)
Struck Circa 302-303 AD
Obv Legend: IMP CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG
Rev Legend: VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP
Mintmark: ST
Denomination: AE Follis
Size: 18mm
Weight: 2.69 g
Rarity: R3
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TIMECODES
0:00 Intro
0:04 Coin overview
0:30 Cleaning the Obverse
1:42 Coin bust starts to show
7:26 Coin Obverse fully cleaned
7:40 Cleaning the Reverse
7:51 Guessing what the Reverse might be
9:19 Coin Reverse Identified
11:02 Coin Reverse fully cleaned
11:09 The Reveal
11:37 Reading the mintmark
11:55 Meaning of the VLPP Reverse
12:03 VLPP: The First Christian Coins
12:32 Coin Attribution and Rarity: RIC VII Ticinum 86 S
12:43 Outro

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For more on the historical perspective of Constantine's views and impact on Christianity, Mike Duncan's excellent Podcast, The History of Rome, provides an unbiased account in Episode 137: The Christian Emperor
https://apple.co/3dCtQX0

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Music Credits
Track 1: Midnight Sun — Broke In Summer [Audio Library Release]
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Track 2: Mid Summer — Broke In Summer [Audio Library Release]
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Track 3: Coastline — Broke In Summer [Audio Library Release]
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#thisancientcoin #numismatics #coincollecting