Walking Back In Time From 1600 To Antiquity By Decades (V2.0)

Wonderful drachm, Spence, and interesting Constantine, Victor.

A somewhat later Constantine from me. I like the powerful portrait of Mars.

307 CE, AE2, Constantine I, RIC VI Treveri 772a.
IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG / MARTI PATRI CONSERVATORI, mintmark PTR for Treveri, 1st officina.

I took the time today to add my ancients to one of my inventory spreadsheets, which should make this much easier for me. This is the same sheet I use to track my Danscos, the HFBCWG main thread dates I have, my colonials, Half Cents, large cents, and Canadian large cents.

I'll post an example of what it looks like, and then a coin for today to start off.

Diocletian. ca. 303-305 AD. Treveri (Trier)
AE Follis. 27.3mm, 9.3g
RIC VI Trier 524a. MM II TR in ex.

Obv: IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG
Cuirassed bust right

Rev: GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI
Genius standing left, holding patera in right hand and cornucopia in left hand, S F across field



The spreadsheet I made looks like this; it's much easier to consult this now than to drag out the books of coins to see what I have.

Licinius I AE Follis, 5.89g; 25mm, 309-311 AD. Siscia.
IMP LIC LICINIVS PF AVG, laureate head right
GENIO AV-GVSTI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae. Crescent in left field, officina letter B in right field. Mintmark SIS.
RIC VI Siscia 198b/207b; Sear 15149. (identical, different years of issue). Cohen 26.

Very nice! I didn't get all fancy with mine (yet) but I love yours. I haven't added my Arabic coinage to mine yet or medievals.

The Usurpers of 290's

The Pirate King of Britain

The Roman Empire had a pirate problem in the English Channel in the 280's. Diocletian put Carausius in charge of clearing out the Frank and Saxon pirates pillaging the English Channel. Carausius defeated the pirates, but then declared himself ruler of Britain, in effect, becoming a pirate himself. Carausius struck coins in his name along with Diocletian and Maximianus in hopes that he would be formally named as a co-ruler; which did not happen. This presumptuous and ill-fated desire to be recognized is why the reverse legend ends with AVGGG- - one G for each Augustus. The first part of the exergue is ML for Moneta Londinium and then XXI, which is a mark of value- probably 20 parts bronze to 1 part silver. S-P across the reverse fields might stand for Sacra Pecunia-- sacred money





Carausius
A.D. 291
24mm 4.3g
IMP C CARAVSIVS P F AVG; radiate and cuirassed bust right
PAX AVGGG; Pax stg. l., holding olive branch and transverse sceptre; S-P across fields.
In ex. MLXXI
RIC Vii London 143






Diocletian
A.D. 291
21x24mm 4.4gm
IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; radiate and cuirassed bust right
PAX AVGGG; Pax stg. l., holding olive branch and transverse sceptre; S-P across fields.
In ex. MLXXI
RIC Vii London 9






Maximianus
A.D. 291
24mm 3.8g
IMP C MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; radiate and cuirassed bust right
PAX AVGGG; Pax stg. l., holding olive branch and sceptre; S-P across fields.
In ex. MLXXI
RIC Vii London 34





Domitius Domitianus was a usurper in Egypt during the reign of Diocletian. Not much is actually known about this rebellion, even the date is disputed, though RIC gives A.D. 295- 296. Other dates include 296- 297 and 297- 298. There has also been speculation that the rebellion was due in part to the monetary reforms of Diocletian.

Due to the short rule of this usurper, his coins are rare and expensive; but one can also get coins struck by Domitianus for the members of the tetrarchy. He actually struck coins in the names of all the rulers at the time-- Diocletian, Maximianus, Constantius I and Galerius [RIC VI Alexandria 18- 21] most likely in an attempt to gain favor and demonstrate that he was not actually rebelling...which did not work.

Strangely, Domitius is not mentioned in any literary source of the time though he is mentioned is some papyri; but Aurelius Achilleus was written about. Aurelius may have been the corrector, perhaps even commander of the troops for Domitius and possibly even took over leadership after the death of Domitius. If not for the coinage, the name Domitius Domitianus would probably only be little more than a footnote, instead he is still stirring debate and argument (a little) and his name will be remembered-- a usurper who claimed the purple, and for a bit, he was Emperor in Alexandria.





Domitius Domitianus
A.D. 295- 296
24mm 10.8g
IMP C L DOMITIVS DOMITIANVS AVG; laureate head right.
GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle to left; A in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 20






Diocletian
A.D. 295- 296
#1236; follis 25mm 9.6g
IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; Γ in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 18a






Maximianus
A.D. 295- 296
25x26mm 10.4gm
IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle with wreath in beak at feet to left; B in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 18b






Constantius I
A.D. 295- 296
26mm 11.7gm
FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, laureate head right.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle with wreath in beak at feet to left; B in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 21a






Galerius
A.D. 295-296
26mm 8.6g
GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; B in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 21b

Carthage and the Quinquegentiani rebellion


The Quinquegentiani (People of the Five Tribes) were a confederation of Berbers in North Africa. They were under Roman rule, but rebelled in A.D. 289 and were successful for a few years until Maximianus Herculius launched a series of devastating attacks starting in A.D. 296-297 and finishing in A.D. 298, after which, the Quinquegentiani were never heard of again. "On 10 March (A.D. 298) Herculius entered Carthage in triumph after the completion of his African campaign" (RIC VI pg 23)

The coinage from Carthage struck during this period references the campaign against the Quinquegentiani as the mint was only opened because of the war. When Maximianus arrived in Carthage sometime in 296- 297, he needed to open a mint to have funds to pay for the war. The types struck in Carthage were also specific to the city and not struck anywhere else in the Empire. The coin type commonly struck throughout the Empire at this time was the GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, a type which Carthage did not even strike. The coins that Carthage minted were specific to the city of Carthage and current events, like FELIX ADVENT AVGG NN and SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS (AVCTA) (FEL) KART which all reference the campaign and demonstrate how grateful the citizens of Carthage were to Maximianus for their salvation from the Quinquegentiani.

the coins below are from the first Tetrarchy





Diocletian
A.D. 297- 298
26mm 8.4gm
IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.
FELIX ADVENT AVGG NN; Africa standing left, holding labarum and tusk; at feet, lion with captured bull, in left field I
in ex. PKP
RIC VI Carthage 23a






Maximianus
A.D. 297- 298
26x29mm 10.4gm
IMP MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.
FELIX ADVENT AVGG NN; Africa standing left, holding labarum and tusk; at feet, lion with captured bull, in left field H.
in ex. PKB
RIC VI Carthage 25b






Constantius I
AD 296- 298
AR Argenteus 18mm 2.7g
CONSTANTIVS CAES; Laureate head right
F ADVENT AVGG NN; Africa standing facing, head left, holding standard and tusk; at her feet, lion standing left, head right, with bucranium to left.
In ex. T
RIC VI 14a






Galerius
A.D. 297
28mm 9.4g
MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES, Laureate bust right.
FELIX ADVENT AVGG NN; Africa standing left, holding labarum and tusk; at feet, lion with captured bull; Δ in left field.
In ex. PKQ
RIC VI Carthage 22b






Diocletian
A.D. 298-303
27x29mm 9.3g
IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; Laureate head right.
SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS FEL KART; Carthage standing facing, head left, holding fruits in both hands.
In ex. A
RIC VI Carthage 29a/31a






Maximianus
A.D. 298- 303
26x29mm 9.3g
IMP MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; Laureate head right.
SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS AVCTA KART; Carthage standing facing, head left, holding fruits in both hands.
In ex. B
RIC VI Carthage 27b






Constantius I
A.D. 298- 303
27mm 9.2g
CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS FEL KART; Carthage standing facing, head left, holding fruits in both hands.
In ex gamma
RIC VI Carthage 30a/ 32a






Galerius
A.D. 298- 303
27x30mm 8.6g
MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS FEL KART; Carthage standing facing, head left, holding fruits in both hands.
In ex. delta
RIC VI Carthage 30b/32b


https://constantinethegreatcoins.com/Carthage/

Here is another Diocletian--this one was minted in Alexandria in 290 and 291 AD.





Tomorrow we drop back to the decade of the 280s!

283-284 CE, antoninianus, Carinus, RIC V Carus 214.
IMP C M AVR CARINVS AVG / SAECVLI FELICITAS, Lugdunum, 4th officina (D).