Lot 57 – Hélène

Solidus – Sirmium (324-325). D’une grande rareté, seulement 5 exemplaires connus.Magnifique exemplaire ayant conservé son brillant. Exemplaire de la vente CNG 93 du 22 mai 2013, N°1260. 4.42g – Depeyrot 9/6 corr. – RIC VII 60 – Cal. – Alföldi 464 Superbe à FDC – MSConstantine the Great struck coins in the name of his mother at varying cities, including Nicomedia, Thessalonica and Ticinum. This particular one was minted in Sirmium – now Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia) – in the Roman province of Pannonia. This portrait shows Helena as a regal and beautiful lady, and on the reverse she is depicted as Securitas, ensuring the well-being of the State. The same type can be found on medallions of 1 ½ and 2 solidi which suggests that this solidus was certainly part of a donativa, being given during ceremonies celebrating Helena’s assumption of the title of Augusta, after the defeat of Licinius late in 324. It is likely on November 8th of that year that both Helena and Fausta – Constantine’s wife – were appointed Augustae, and that his son Constantius II was named Caesar.