Don't Hire Underlings With The Same Name As Yours...

...because it really confuses the archaeologists (and coin collectors) in the millennia to come.

I bought this coin at the local coin club auction a couple of years ago. As I've slowly been trawling through my collection updating my database, I finally got around to having a close look at this one. What I saw made me pop it out of the self-adhesive 2x2 it came in (I love self-adhesive 2x2s, but not for my ancients!) to make sure I was seeing correctly:

It's a late Roman (late 3rd-early 4th century) follis, sold to me as a coin of Emperor Maximianus (286-305 AD). The name MAXIMIANVS is certainly clearly visible on the obverse, and the reverse is a known type for that emperor: Moneta standing, Sear(1981)#3536. Case closed.

Or is it?

The problem is with the rest of the obverse legend: NOB CAES, though it's partially obscured by a chunk of crusty debris. Emperor Maximianus never held the junior rank of Caesar; he went straight from soldier to Emperor (so his coins normally have IMP and AVG on them, never NOB CAES).

However, Maximianus had an offsider, Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus by name, who was given the lower rank. He's known to history as "Galerius" to avoid confusion with the former emperor, but his coins almost always have "Maximianus" as the most prominent name. Such is the case with my coin. The same reverse type was issued under Galerius Caesar, Sear(1981)#3611.

So, not Emperor Maximianus after all, but Caesar Galerius. Oh well, now I know...