Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1249. Estimate $25000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $32500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CONSTANTINE I. 307-337 AD. AR Medallion (17.56 gm, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck circa 11 May 330 AD. Head of Constantine right, wearing jeweled diadem / D N CONSTANTINVS MAX TRIVM F AVG, Constantinopolis, turreted and veiled, seated right, head facing, right foot on prow, holding short sceptre in right hand and cornucopiae in left; MCONSE. Gnecchi pg. 588, 11-13 and pl. 28, 11-13 var. (officina); Alföldi pl. 18, 225. EF, lightly toned, hairline flan crack. Extremely rare, one of eleven known (all but five in museum collections), and the only one from officina E. ($25,000)

On 11 May 330 AD, after almost six years of transformation from the ancient city of Byzantium, Constantinople, the new eastern capital of the Roman Empire, was formally dedicated. Celebrated with forty days of festivities, it culminated with a final dedication ceremony occurring in the newly-enlarged Hippodrome.

To commemorate the dedication, silver five-siliquae multiples were struck which were presented to the new city’s elite in the emperor's presence. They were minted with two reverse types: the well-known seated Constantinopolis, struck at six different officinae, and the very rare seated Roma, struck only at officina S. Their anepigraphic obverse with the large head of Constantine right and the vertical placement of the reverse legend on either side of the figure are reminiscent of Hellenistic royal tetradrachms.

Ten other specimens of this type have been recorded; of these, six are in public collections: two in Berlin (offinae B and Z); one in Copenhagen (officina D); one in Rome (also officina D); one in Milan (listed as officina V); and one in Trier (officina Z). Those in private collections include: Leu 22 (8-9 May 1979), lot 383 (officina Z); Berk 100 (29 January 1998), lot 684 (no officina mark); Tkalec (18 February 2003), lot 247 (officina IA); and Berk 138 (1 June 2004), lot 364 (officina Q).