---
title: Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/
description: 'A Roman gold solidus: the obverse is the laureate portrait of Constantine, the reverse a standing emperor in military dress facing a seated helmeted…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313.jpg)

# Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS

A Roman gold solidus: the obverse is the laureate portrait of Constantine, the reverse a standing emperor in military dress facing a seated helmeted figure with a globe between them, under the legend RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS, Restorer of Liberty. The tell is the virtue word: 'liberty' is claimed as an accomplished fact, in place of any specific claim about what was restored or from whom.

- **Date:** 0313
- **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914)
- **Made by:** Roman imperial mint, under Emperor Constantine I
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [Roman Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=roman-empire)
- **Medium:** [Banknotes and coins](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=banknote-coin)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [Constantine Regime](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=constantine-regime)
- **Leader:** [Constantine I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=constantine-i)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics)
- **Event:** [Constantine Maxentius Civil War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=constantine-maxentius-civil-war)
- **Techniques:** [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/920945), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (The Met Open Access, CC0; isPublicDomain true in the Met API; object about 1,700 years old) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cindy and David Sofer Collection, 2025 (2025.830.1), Open Access

## Text on the object

Original (Latin) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Obverse: CONSTAN[TI]NVS P F AVG

Reverse: RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS

Exergue: PTR
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Obverse: Constantinus, Pius, Felix, Augustus (Constantine, dutiful, fortunate, emperor).

Reverse: To the Restorer of Liberty.

Exergue: mint mark PTR.
```

Letters in square brackets are partly off the flan or hidden by the rim. A small mark follows PTR in the exergue and is not text. The translation expands standard abbreviations.

[← Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Trois Tetes sous l'meme bonnet (three heads under the same cap)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trois-tetes-sous-le-meme-bonnet-1789/) (1789 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)
- [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating)
- [The Great Battle of Ansong Ford: The Valor of Captain Matsuzaki](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ansong-ford-toshikata-1894/) (1894 · Glittering generalities)
- ['The Congress Cross or "Swastik"' (Pickings from the Hindi Punch, Bombay, February 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindi-punch-congress-swastik-1896/) (Feb 1896 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Un combate en el río Zapote (A Fight on the Zapote River), Blanco y Negro](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/un-combate-en-el-rio-zapote-1898/) (Jul 9, 1898 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Pears' Soap: "The first step towards lightening the White Man's Burden" (Cosmopolitan advertisement, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pears-soap-white-mans-burden-1899/) (1899 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)