TYPE Roman Empire, period of Constantine the Great and sons, 330-346 AD, anonymous issue commemorating Constantinople - AE3 (bronze), Siscia mint, 2nd officina DESCRIPTION . Obv: Helmeted bust of Constantinopolis to left, legend CONSTANTINOPOLIS Rev: Victory standing on prow of galley, holding scepter and leaning on shield, mintmark BSIS REFERENCE: SR 3890 var. GRADING: AEF, glossy dark patina, scrape on cheek ORDER INFO: R1657, $26 Popular issue commemorating the founding of Constantinople as the new capital of the Empire, with the image of the city's personification - Constantinopolis. For more than a millenium it shined not only as the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, but as the preeminent world capital, and retained considerable importance even after the 15th-c. Ottoman conquest.