25/12/2023
I found a 1,700 year old coin-
The coin I was holding was listed as an “AE Follis Constantine I - SARMATIA DEVICTA,” and it was made at the Lugdunum Mint in modern-day Lyon, France between 323 – 324 AD. I was holding in my hands something that was just two years shy of its 1,700 birthday!
The Romans were around for a long time, hundreds of years, and they made a lot of coins. For comparison, The United States has only been making coins since 1793 and there are currently 130 Billion US pennies in circulation. How hard is it to imagine that in 1,700 years someone might ask the question, “So who was this Abraham Lincoln guy?”
In Gale I learned that "He is frequently called "the Great" because of his successes as a general, administrator, and legislator and because of his support of the Christian Church and efforts to maintain Christian unity." I would absolutely recommend reading the fascinating, complete article about him in Gale.
What I would really love to know is what this coin’s journey looked like to get into my hands. How did it make it from the ancient Roman Empire to Texas? How did my Grandfather come to possess it? And Did he even know what he had? The internet has made armchair sleuthing a lot easier. I was able to find out in hours what he might never have been able to discover so I suppose it’s possible he never even knew the coin’s origin.
Does all this make me a Numismatist now? I don’t know about that, but I do love stories and mysteries and this certainly has been a great one, courtesy of Dad. I think he would’ve gotten a kick out of all this and maybe he too would have wondered about his father and where he got an ancient Roman coin. I know I did.