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Copper nummus

Copper nummus minted under Constantine the Great in 327/8 AD in Trier. The coin is 20,1 millimetres in diameter and weighs 3,31 grams.

The obverse features a bust of Helena, mother of Constantine with the legend FL HELENA AVGVSTA. The reverse depicts a woman facing left holding a branch, with the legend SECVRITAS REI PVBLICE.

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Stories

  • Helena, mother of Constantine and woman of legend

    story by Marten Scherpenzeel.

    The front, or obverse, of this <em>nummus</em> shows us the head of Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. She was one of the, if not the most, important female figures in the development of Christianity in late antiquity and up to the modern period.

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