Description
One of the first Christian coins is this issue of Constantine the Great looking devoutly skyward. The ”Eyes to Heaven“ bust is an uncommon type, one of the earliest and most famous Christian coins. As his contemporary biographer Bishop Eusebius wrote: ”The great strength of the divinely inspired faith fixed in his soul might be deduced by considering also the fact that he had his own portrait so depicted…that he appeared to look upwards in the manner of one reaching out to God in prayer.“ The type was struck from 327-9 at the Heraclea mint, staffed by artisans from Ticinium, an early adopter of Christian imagery. Nummus. 19 mm, 3.20 g.
