Page 22 - January1960

20 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN January, 1960
BOMAN EMPEBOR,S ON COIN BUTTONS (Continued)

No. 34 Another version of the same with two-piece construction.
No. 35 Another version in casb metal.
No. 36 The same inscription on a coin showing him as an older man.
CONSTANTINE I (THE GREAT), borr: 272, died 337. No emperor is better
known than this one. It seems most unnecessary to identify him as the one who
became a Christian convert and supporter of the ctrurch or to say that he moved
the government from Rome to Byzantium where he rechristened that city Con-
stantinople. He ruled from 306 until his death, a general with great military skill
and an able administrator.
No. 3? "Imp/Constantinvs/ P /T/ Avg"
No. 38 Like No. 33 in design. Of the same plastic and metal construction as the
Marcus Aurelius one (No. 19) and frorn the same source, Italy, 1958.
CONSTANTIUS If, sole emperor 350-361. Constantine left ttuee sons, known
to us as Constantine If, Constans and Constantius II. They became joint em-
perors with the Roman world divided among them, but instead of ruling peace-
fully they foughC each other to the death. Constantius II survived the ottrers to
hold absolute power for about ten turbulent years.
No. 39 "D N/Cons/TrlNOB/PlN'[/V" Several new abbreviations are introduced
on this coin and we regret being unable to decode them. The button is like the
above in material and make-up.
Now that we have seen trhis picture button gallery of Roman emperors, we
may wonder how it came to be so large. The antiquity, historic interest, art
quality and the good supply have combined to make Roman coins attention getters.
Varieties are so many that not even the greatest authorities in the field fully
understand them. One writer has said that the flelds of ftaly are thickly sown
wittr coins. It is true that Italian farmers havq been plowing them up for some
two thousand years-and still do. Caches have also been dug up in every part of
Europe, across Africa and deep into Asia.
Nor is that surprising, all facts considered. The Romans had neitJxer paper
money nor bank checks. They dealt entirely in hard money or barter. For gene-
rations Iioman coins were the accepted world currency. But, takilg into account
th"at the supply was huge, how did it get buried the way it did? The answer is,
when banks were still unheard of, a hole in the gxound provided the best place
many a man could flnd for safe keeping. In the nature of things, he would often
keep tris hiding place secret and it takes but litUe imagination to see how in times
of war and pestilence many caches would remain for Chance to uncover.
Dame Fortune and Dame Fashion are much alike in their capriciousness.
When coin buttons will be in style is as unpredictable as when the next cache will
be discovered. Yet both have happened many times in the past. Elere are a few
contemporary records of coin buttons going back almost a hundred years:
Peterson's Magazine reports for the winter of 1866 that "Oxidized silver but-
tons are exceedingly fashionable. They bear the device of a head, resembling old
coins and are embossed with Greek letters. When coins are selected, it is necessary
that every button should be difierent." (That requirement helps explain why so
many kinds.)
A few months later Godey's noted "beautiful fancy buttons resembling coins"
and "fancy buttons from which dangled tiny gilt coins."
fn December 1881, Harper's Baz,aar described "silver coin buttons, wittr chains
for hooks."
The Delineator stated in 1896 that "Buttons occupy a very prominent place in