In the early years of Diocletian's reign (when he shared power with only a single co-ruler, Maximianus), Britain and northern Gaul were under the control of Carausius, a rebel who had been a military and naval commander under Maximianus in the Rhine area. Maximianus' early efforts to dislodge Carausius were unsuccessful, and Carausius organized a fairly successful government based in Britain.

After Constantius' defeated Carausius and then his successor, Allectus, an official Roman mint was established at Londinium. In 294-295 Constantius was most likely operating a temporary mint at Bononia (moden Boulogne), a major Gallic port on the English Channel that had been recaptured from Carausius and which was the headquarters for the impending 296 invasion. A mint would have been needed to pay the expenses. Most likely this mint was simply transferred to Londinium after the invasion, and immediately began striking the large bronze coins that had been introduced by Diocletian elsewhere in the empire in 294.

Constantine's early years as Augustus featured a broad variety of reverse themes. Themes common to all of his mints, such as Sol, Mars, and "youthful prince (PRINCIPI IVVENTITVS), are certainly well represented, but many other reverse types were produced just at London. Many of these were no doubt inspired by his defeat of Maxentius in 312 and emphasize his attributes as savior, protector, and restorer of Rome and the empire. Like the other mints, though, coins with Sol predominated.

By the time of the coinage reforms in 315–317—following Constantine's victory over Licinius in their first civil war and the appointment of Constantine's sons as caesar—the London coins are brought more in line with the regular patterns of his other mints. But coins such as this one—with its striking astronomical design—show that the London celators' creativity was not totally stamped out.

After Constantine's second civil war with Licinius, in 325, the London mint (like the Ticinum mint) was closed. Shortly thereafter, the mint at Constantinople was opened, as the empire's center of gravity continued to shift eastward.

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This material originated on the Interactive Ancient Mediterranean Web site (http://iam.classics.unc.edu). It has been copied, reused or redistributed under the terms of IAM's fair use policy. Copyright 1998, Interactive Ancient Mediterranean.