So I’ve had this coin in my junk box for quite a while and almost tossed it in the cull pile, especially since the badly worn obverse makes it hard to identify. The obverse features a laureate head facing right, with a dense, illegible legend. The reverse, on the other hand, is pretty good, showing a draped Genius standing left, holding a patera and cornucopiae. The reverse legend is GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI. It was struck in Siscia. The coin is small; 18.39 mm. 1.74 g. 180°. After looking around, I think the coin may be a quarter-follis of Maximian. RIC VI Siscia 146? The density of the legend matches his obverse legends, even though I can’t make out individual letters. If it is a quarter-follis, then it’s a pretty rare coin and worth hanging onto even if in bad shape. These were thought to be struck at about the time of Maximian’s abdication in 305. Can anyone offer some thoughts on this tentative identification, or suggest alternate candidates?
I believe the quarter folles were most abundantly struck at Siscia. I can't exactly make out the obverse legend, but I think I see an "X" in there indicating it could be Maximian. Here's my quarter folle of Siscia struck in the name of Severus II. Severus II, Quarter Follis Obverse: SEVERVS NOB C, Laureate head right Reverse: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius Standing left, modius on head, naked except for chamlys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopia. 19mm, approximately 3 gm, A.D. 305-306 Reference: RIC VI, Siscia 171a
I think you're right. I'm no @TIF, but I've overlain some Maximian quarter folles from VCoins and the legends match up. Here's what (I think) I'm seeing:
Same coin as Mr.Doug Smith. MAXIMIANVS AVG GENIO POPULI ROMANI Siscia Rated R2 10 years ago…...now quite common it seems…..
I collected six different quarter folles from Siscia until now: Maximian, RIC 146 Constantius, RIC 167 Constantius, RIC 169a Galerius, RIC 169b Severus II, RIC 170a Maximinus II, RIC 171b
This site on the quarter-follis denomination: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/qf/ has quite a bit of info including a page: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/qf/QF_Counting.htm on the frequencies of the various types in a large European collection formed near Siscia.