Picked this up yesterday at a show in Vienna, Virginia because any Argenteus is pretty rare and other than the missing piece it’s pretty nice. Both legends break at the same place so to the right of the bust is -ANUS AUG. So is it DIOCLET that’s missing or MAXIMI? Both have the campgate reverse with the legend VIRTUS MILITUM but the AUG on the obverse limits us these two options. I’ve looked through CNG archives and I’ve found portraits of both the look close. The Alexandria mintmark doesn’t seem to help one way or the other so I’m here to ask for help from the experts. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks Jim
Nice work. I ordered your book but it hasn’t arrived yet and the sources I found on line weren’t as helpful as I would have liked.
I don't think it can be Galerius. The dates given for this issue of VIRTVS MILITVM campgates at Alexandria are circa 295-296 (ie., until Domitianus's revolt), when Galerius was Caesar. The Coryssa link above also only shows examples with Galerius as Caesar. The very rare silver issues struck at Alexandria from when he was Augustus, unlisted in RIC, were not from the campgate series. Not sure if it's at all possible to say if yours is Diocletian or Maximianus.
H8_modern, You really can't use portraiture as a guide since the Alexandria Mint was using "cookie cutter" portraiture for the most part, nearly all portraits look the same. After Constantius I was elected as Caesar, Maximian Herculius did spend a lot of time in north Africa, so it's probably him.
