Descriptions

A nummus of the type that weighed 1/132 of a pound. It is a single coin from the Seaton Down Hoard made around AD 330-335 in Cyzicus, modern Turkey, and issued by the House of Constantine.

This coin was minted to commemorate Rome, the old capital of the Roman world. It was designed to reassure people that, although Rome was no longer the sole capital of the Empire, it was still a significant city. The importance of this message meant there was a vast amount of coinage struck with this image during this period. On the head side is the personification of Rome, in the form of a woman wearing a helmet. The image on the reverse depicts a she-wolf suckling twins Romulus and Remus, the mythological founders of Rome, with the twin stars Castor and Pollux above them. This twin imagery may have been chosen to symbolise the twin capitals of the Empire, Rome in the West and Constantinopolis in the East.


This object is on display at RAMM in the Making History gallery.