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American Numismatic Society, NY

Fl[avia] Helena Augusta reads the legend on this coin minted in 324/5 C.E., just a year or two before Helena traveled to Palestine. The coin shows Helena in profile, wearing a diadem and a mantle. Of humble origins (Helena may have been an innkeeper or a prostitute; she never married), Helena gave birth to Constantine in about 272 or 273 C.E. Soon after, Constantine’s father married the daughter of the emperor Maxentius—a move that ensured his and his son’s subsequent rise to the throne.