Struck posthumously after Constantine I died in May 337, this issue belongs to a coordinated consecration coinage produced under the authority of his surviving sons. The Trier mint was among the most active in the western empire at this moment, and RIC VIII 68 is among the better-documented types from that output. The political motive was transparent: legitimizing the new co-emperors by associating them publicly with a deified father.
The reverse type draws on a tradition stretching back to Antonine consecratio issues — deliberate archaism as political theatre.
Struck posthumously after Constantine I died in May 337, this issue belongs to a coordinated consecration coinage produced under the authority of his surviving sons. The Trier mint was among the most active in the western empire at this moment, and RIC VIII 68 is among the better-documented types from that output. The political motive was transparent: legitimizing the new co-emperors by associating them publicly with a deified father.
The reverse type draws on a tradition stretching back to Antonine consecratio issues — deliberate archaism as political theatre.