An Excessively Rare, Magnificent, and Highly Important Roman Gold Medallion of 2 Solidi of Helena, Mother of Constantine I, the Third and Finest Known Medallion of Helena

Helena, mother of Constantine I

Medallion of 2 solidi, Nicomedia 324-325, AV 9.02 g. FL HELENA – AVGVSTA Diademed and draped bust r., wearing double necklace. Rev. SECVRITAS – REIPVBLICE Helena, veiled, standing facing, head l., holding branch and raising skirt. C 10. Gnecchi –. RIC –. Depeyrot –. Toynbee pl. 48, 4. Alföldi 462.

Of the highest rarity, the second specimen of this type and only the third and the finest

medallion known for this empress. A wonderful portrait of fine style and a lovely

light reddish tone. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc

Privately purchased from Tkalec in 1992.Of all the women associated with Constantine the Great, his mother Helena was not only the most influential, but the most enduring, for she outlived even those who were significantly younger. Because the sources that mention her are fragmentary, biased or of Byzantine vintage, we can only speculate about how strongly she influenced Constantine. But we can be sure she was an imposing woman who cast a long shadow in her son’s courts. Constantine probably was raised in rural Dardania by Helena at a time when his absentee father Constantius was among the most important men in the western provinces. Mother and son clearly forged a strong bond in those formative years, and we should presume that Helena joined Constantine at his court in Trier soon after his accession in 306. In doing so Helena went from a life of provincial obscurity which she had known for more than half a century to the highest office a woman could hold in the empire. But Helena soon had a competitor, her son’s new bride Fausta, a woman about whom the historical tradition reports few positive qualities. Together they remained the two most influential women in the court, each probably being accorded the title nobilissima femina immediately, and then the title of Augusta late in 324, after Constantine had defeated Licinius and brought the entire empire under his rule. Gold coins were struck for Helena only at Nicomedia, Thessalonica, Sirmium and Ticinum. This exceedingly rare medallion belongs to the earliest period when Helena held the title Augusta, and since it is of unusual size we might presume that it was among the gifts distributed at the ceremonies where she assumed her title. The other known gold multiple of Helena is a double-solidus from Ticinum. No literary evidence describes when Helena was hailed Augusta, but it is generally assumed to have been on November 8, 324, as a part of the ceremonies at which Constantine traced the boundaries of his future capital on the site of old Byzantium. Other appointments were also made at this grand ceremony: Constantine’s wife Fausta was raised to Augusta, his infant son Constantius II was named Caesar, his step-mother Theodora may have been given posthumous honours as Augusta, and his half-sister Constantia was downgraded from Augusta – a title she’d held as wife of his vanquished enemy Licinius – to nobilissima femina. On coinage Constantine distinguished the roles of his mother and his wife. Helena, who in the guise of Securitas, personified the "well-being of the State" whereas Fausta was shown as the mother of Constantine’s children and filled the dual role of Salus and Spes, the "health of the State" and the "hope of the State". Helena’s three surviving grandsons also struck small bronzes in her posthumous honour, on which she personified "public peace". This was a prudent message considering the bloody purge of their step-family soon after their father’s death.

 

NAC84, 1212

Done