Silvered Bronze Coin – Follis, Ancient Rome
Ruler: Constantine the Great, c. 307-337 AD
Obv: Laureate bust, left
Rev: “IOVI. CONSERVATORI AVGG” Jupiter left, holding Victory
Mint: Cyzicus, struck 317-318 ad
Sear-R159660 - 20mm, 2.94gm
Fine Portrait,and scarcer reverse type. Nice condition with dark patina and silvering still evident.
Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman army officer, and his consort Helena. His father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west in 293. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius. In 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia.
Acclaimed as emperor by the army after his father's death in 306, Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of both west and east by 324.