| Author |
 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,320 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Just purchased the following Diocletian to finally complete a set of these coins. Its only the third Diocletian I have been able to locate in the last 18 months, the other two were priced at £300 and £125 so more than I would be comfortable with paying at the minute. Quote:
In late 286 or early 287AD Carausius (A respected Roman military commander) declared himself Emperor of Britain and Northern France thus creating the Britannic Empire. He was forced into doing this as Rome had sentenced him to death as he was suspected of keeping captured treasure for himself and of allowing pirates to carry out raids and enrich themselves before he took action against them.
Rome was, as you might expect not very happy about this and in 288 or 289AD Maximian attempted to invade and recapture Britain, he failed, miserably. Almost a decade later Constantius (Constantine's Father) again attempted to recapture Britannica. He succeeded in September 296 killing Carausius's successor Allectus.
Before the invasion it is thought that a number of coins were produced at an unknown location (probably a field camp where the invading troops were massed) by Lyon mint workers. These coins would be carried across the channel by the invading army to pay the troops and other associated costs. These coins were also to be used to 'fill' the Britannic economy and speed the removal of pre reform Carausius and Allectus minted coins. There are around 4000 variants of 'GENIO POPVLI ROMANI' coins, 16 of which (4 coins each with 4 different reverse legend breaks) are considered these 'made for the invasion coins'. Its a little known area of the Tetrarchy but a very interesting one that James got me interested in in 2011. I've had real trouble locating these coins in the past but incredibly found and bought 3 of the following 4 coins in the last 3 weeks! 2I)6LRBRCspFkilw~~60_12.jpg) Sellers pictureIMP C DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG - Bust right, LaureateGENIO POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, naked standing left, modus on head holding patera and cornucopiae295-296AD - RIC VI Lugdunum 14a (243) IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG - Bust right, LaureateGENIO POP-VLI ROMANI - Genius, naked standing left, modus on head holding patera and cornucopiae295-296AD - RIC VI Lugdunum 14b (p243) FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Bust right, Laureate.GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, naked standing left, modus on head holding patera and cornucopiae296AD - RIC VI Lugdunum 17a (p243) C VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB C - Bust right, LaureateGENIO POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, naked standing left, modus on head holding patera and cornucopiae296AD - RIC VI Lugdunum 17b (p243)Pretty pleased with myself right now - on to set number two  Edited by bobbyhelmet
02/10/2013 3:25 pm
|
|
|
|
Valued Member
United States
167 Posts |
Congratulations bh! That is a real milestone. I am acquainted with several veteran collectors who have sought to complete the "Invasion Coinage" set for many years ..... and are still searching.
James
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Thanks James Three in three weeks is pretty crazy, I've been waiting around 3 months per coin in the past, even then its been very hard work trawling online sites religiously every week. Most of these are mis-attributed to London which makes it harder and annoyingly tends to bump the prices up. Only another Diocletian needed for my second set  Edited by bobbyhelmet
02/10/2013 3:36 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
167 Posts |
Now for the real challenge: Any one of RIC VI, Londinium, LON marked folles such as this: Diocletian, No. 1a
 
IMP C DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG ...................................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI - LON in exergue
I have only encountered five coins of this series for sale in thirty years - and they are always very pricey, especially now. The last one was in the CNG auction of Dr. Voegelar's vast collection of Britannic Roman coins several years ago. Two wsre offered (neither one expecially nice) and if I remember correctly they sold for several hundred dollars each (edit). I have one other coin in this series - no where nice as this one - that I will post later. James Edited by jamesicus
02/10/2013 4:34 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Yeah - I've looked for these and had no luck, don't think I've located a single one in the last 18 months for sale.
I did pick up a few PL / PA / PB mintmarked coins but they didn't really interest me so they were resold, think I kept one with a surprisingly long neck just for fun. The problem with the 'LON' coins is they are highly desired, finding one is just the start, you then need to outbid all the other interested parties!
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Congratulations on completing the set. I wasn't aware that the legend break determines that it's from the invasion issue. I learned something new today.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
167 Posts |
echizento wrote: Quote:
.......... I wasn't aware that the legend break determines that it's from the invasion issue. I learned something new today. Plus the long ribbon end of the laurel wreath laying on the neck. Added: I wish we used first names in our posts - I think that makes communication much more comfortable and friendly - just ruminating. James |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
946 Posts |
Well done Bobby  And really interesting to learn about this series type. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1315 Posts |
Very nice accomplishment.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Great job Bobby, very interesting, well done.... |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
very cool BH, didn't even know the story behind these...thanks for posting!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Very nice coins! I don't have any of the "invasion coinage" right now. Sometime soon I might try to obtain more London mint coins.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
 Quote:
I did pick up a few PL / PA / PB mintmarked coins but they didn't really interest me so they were resold Thought I would just add this example of a Lyon LB mintmarked coin into the thread as these do interest me. This Galerius example was made just before the Galerius 'Invasion Coin' in my original post. As can be seen from the styles they are very similar apart from the presence of a mintmark on the latter of course. So similar they could have been cut by the same hand? Impossible to prove but likely, another thing I have noticed on some of these coins is the 'lonely C' at the end of the obverse legend, are the cutters just 'filling' the space available or is it a peculiarity of a single die cutter? I wish it were possible to know but sadly its not. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Gosh - I need to get an invasion coin. If only they werent so very pricey! Do many really lowball examples make their way onto the bay?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Quote:
Do many really lowball examples make their way onto the bay? They do but for coins considered 'common' (Galerius is 'scarce') in RIC not as many as you would expect. The biggest annoyance I've found is that many people mistake them for London coins, both sellers and buyers alike. This can make them hard to find and like it or not London coins carry a premium so £25 coins often sell for £75 won by people thinking they have bought something they have not. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
I could make a full set - Carausius, Allectus, Maximinian, Diocletian and Galerius. Would be a pretty sweet thing to own. Quite tempting really - ill have to look up the full speel online.
|
| |
Replies: 18 / Views: 2,320 |
Posted 02/10/2013 3:34 pm
