Ancient Rome Constantine I (The Great) Sol Follis 310AD to 318AD

The Roman Emperor Constantine I (The Great), known also as Saint Constantine lived from 272 AD to 337 AD. The city that he founded and named after himself, Constantinople, is known as modern day Istanbul.

Since the time of the Ancient Egyptians pyramids to the Roman Empire, the sun was worshiped and regarded as a god. By Constantine's depiction of Sol the sun god on his coinage, it served as a symbolism of Constantine being granted the approval and right to rule.

These 'Sol' bronze coins are minted in many varieties, the online resource Wildwinds has a catalogue of a large number of them. While each of them would differ slightly in design and in size, they typically would have on one side, a bust of Constantine the Great facing right or left, and on the other side, the sun god Sol in various standing postures, holding a globe in one hand.

With Ancient coins, their values are harder to assess due to the unknown number of coins minted, their varying appearances, preservation state, and desirability. Approximate values for the common types run like this:

worn: $10 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $25
well preserved: $150

CoinQuest thanks AncienCoins for use of their coin photo. It is a beauty!
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