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Nummus - Constantinus I SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Arelate
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint, Arelate |
|---|---|
| Year | 318 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents the standing figure of Sol Invictus facing left, rendered in full length and draped in a radiate crown, raising his right hand in salutation and holding a globe in his left hand, in the conventional iconography of the unconquered Sun as divine companion of the emperor. The encircling legend SOLI INV-I-CTO COMITI is disposed around the field, invoking Sol as the comrade of the Imperial house. In the exergue, the mint mark identifies the Arelate officina, with the control marks P, a star on crescent, and A denoting the specific workshop. The type reflects the sustained Constantinian veneration of Sol Invictus prior to the full embrace of Christianity as the dominant Imperial cult. |
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| Additional information |
By 318, Constantine's relationship with Sol Invictus was already beginning its complicated drift toward ambiguity — within a decade he would be issuing coinage with explicitly Christian imagery, yet the solar cult remained politically useful as a bridge between pagan tradition and the emperor's increasingly open Christian sympathies. The Arelate mint, established only a few years earlier after Constantine seized control of Gaul from Maximian, was still a young operation finding its production rhythm.
RIC VII 164 is catalogued from the second officina at Arelate and carries the officina mark accordingly.