The coins ascribed to Lugdunum traditionally include a number of coins with no mintmark on the reverse, that stylistically are separate from the London mint coins that do not have a mintmark. These coins are thought to have been struck in preparation for Constantius' invasion of Britain in 296, and thus predate the unmarked coins known to have been struck in London. Recent scholarship assigns these coins to a mint in northern Gaul that was set up expressly to strike coins before the invasion, perhaps staffed by workers transferred from the Lugdunum mint (on account of the stylistic similarity). It is thought that this mint was located in Bononia (modern Boulougne), the important port conquered by COnstantius and likely used as the staging area for the invasion.

During much of the first and second centuries, Lugdunum was one of the most important cities in the empire. The mint at Lugdunum dates from 19 BC and for much of this time was the most important imperial mint besodes Rome itself.

By the time of Diocletian, the city's importance had declined, eclipsed in military significance by other cities more directly located on the German frontier such as Treveri, but was still an important enough administrative center to justify an imperial mint in Diocletian's decentralized administration. Under Constantius, workers from the mint issued the coinage preparatory to his invasion of Britain, perhaps striking the coins at Bononia (see neighboring tab).

Under Constantius' control, the mint struck the same standard Genio Populi Romani coins as the other mints, but quickly developed its own distinctive style; after about 301 or so, the portraits have a much more angular, geometric style than the other western mints, resembling more the eastern style. Interestingly, this stylistic transition happened at the same time as the neighboring mints in Treveri and Ticinum transitioned to the Moneta reverse, which was never adapted at Lugdunum. Lugdunum coins were also distinctive for the altar on the reverse, and, like the Treveri mint, used an unusually diverse set of bust types.

The Lugdunum mint was fully part of Constantine's sphere of control as he began his rise to power, although clearly subordinate to Treveri. Portraits of Constantine are stylistically similar to those from his other main mints in London and Treveri. During the politically tumultuous years of 308–310 the mint struck a large number of distinctive reverse types commemorating various aspects of Constantine and his rule.

The mint operated somewhat sporadically during the latter part of Constantine's reign, as the empire's center of gravity continued to shift eastward; it was closed from 316–319 or 320, and again from 325–330.

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