Diocletian, helmeted

I just changed my avatar to the obverse of this follis of Diocletian which is a new acquisition. The reverse type is very common, but the obverse is special for its helmeted bust left.



26 mm. 8.40 grams.
B * field marks
TR in exergue
RIC VI Trier --, cf. pages 184ff where it is combination 1h/Z where Z is listed only for Maximian and Constantius, series of numbers 264-373, struck "298-9."
Sear IV --, but its number would be near 12762.

In this time period there are many coins not exactly in RIC. I don't consider it special just because it is not in RIC, rather because of the bust type.

Maybe you could show us a coin with an unusual bust type, or another coin of Diocletian.

 

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Very nice portrait and obverse. Actually nice coin all around. I don't have a helmeted version, but one of my favorite Diocletian:

DIOCLETIAN
AE27 Silvered Follis
OBVERSE: IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: GENIO POPV-L-IROMANI, Genius standing left, holding patera & cornucopia, HTA in ex.
Struck at Heraclea, 296-297 AD
9.3g, 27mm
RIC VI 19a

 

A great addition, Warren.

 

Nice Warren, very artistic obverse and he has a full size hand.....not one of those tiny ones you see on a lot of coins.

 

Mine is not unusual, just facing left - RIC 282 page 187 (common).


Do you have photos distinguishing between heads Y and Z? I assume some have a spear head but I don't have anything similar.

 

Nice coin. I don't have Diocletian yet, but I'm hoping for an early London nummus later in the year if I find a nice one.

 

A wonderful coin, Warren, both for its rarity and for its strike.
Here's a radiate Constantine from Heraclea. Not a great rarity, but it's somewhat unusual to see Constantine radiate. RIC VII Heraclea 51. RIC has it as R2, but I think it's slightly more common than that.

 

Am I not correct that these for Constantine were issued at mints controlled by Licinius? Mine is from Kyzikos.

 

Great coin, @Valentinian ... that helmet is very nice!


DIOCLETIAN:

RI Diocletian Ӕ Quinarius 1.46g 16mm Rome AD 284-305 IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG, Jupiter stndng thunderbolt sceptre RIC 193



RI Diocletian 284-305 CE AE Radiate Fraction VOT XX

 

I know they were struck in Antioch as well, so there seems to be an Eastern emphasis. But I don't know enough about the context to speak authoritatively.

 

@Valentinian .....OOOhhh that is soooo nice!!
I really do like that obverse!....A lovely looking coin...It almost looks like Diocletian is trying to tighten his helmet cords....
Super coin! That obverse really appeals to me.
Congrats!....Paul

 

That is a radiate fraction not a follis.

 

Thank you

 

Neat coin (and avatar) @Valentinian . Someone should start a thread on "Helmeted coins" one day. Here is my favorite one; I especially like the liquid flowing from the patera.

DIOCETIAN follis
26 mm 9.29g Antioch
IMP C DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG / GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI
RIC 54a

 

Diocletian Antoninianus

Obv:– IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield
Rev:– PAX AVGG, Pax standing left, with Victory on globe and scepter
Minted in Lugdunum (B in exe.). Emission 7, Officina 2. Spring A.D. 290 to A.D. 291
References:– Cohen 368. RIC V Pt 2 67 (Rated S). Bastien 367 (2 examples cited)

A scarcer bust type

 

Abdication issue, commemorating Diocletian's belated realization that growing cabbages was better than ruling an empire. For added interest: despite the PTR in exergue pointing to Trier as the mint, this coin was apparently struck at Cyzicus!


DIOCLETIAN
AE Follis. Abdication Issue. 9.17g, 28.3mm. Cyzicus mint, AD 305-307. RIC VI 677a (incorrectly attributed to Trier). O: D N DIOCLETIANO FELISSIMO SEN AVG, laureate bust right in imperial mantle, holding olive branch and mappa. R: PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES AVGG, Providentia standing right, extending right hand to Quies standing left, holding branch and leaning on sceptre; S F in fields, K S between figures, PTR in exergue.
CNG notes: "This is perhaps one of the most unusual issues in the entire follis series. It is nearly always attributed to Trier (Treveri), but a comparison of portrait styles and an examination of follis hoards reveals that this issue was not struck in Trier but in Cyzicus. Two officinae struck this issue, and the KS in the field between the two figures is actually the mintmark, not the PTR. A look at the coins of Cyzicus (RIC 22-23) shows that the same two officinae struck this issue without the PTR also. The Senior Augustus issues of Diocletian and Maximianus were struck at every mint currently in operation. Apparently, the first coins of this type were prepared at Trier and examples were sent to the various mints for the individual mints to copy. At Cyzicus, the die engravers copied everything, including the Trier mintmark and put their own mintmark in the field. Eventually someone soon realized the mistake and new dies were prepared with the mintmark in its proper location."

 

More random Diocletians......Either busts or types that I think might be of interest

 

Your avatar looks similar to mine of Constantine I, from London. Perhaps we are related?

London mint, A.D. 310-312
RIC 177 (var)
Obv: CONSTANTINVS P A-VG
Rev: COMITI AVGG NN - Sol, with whip and globe
PLN in exergue; star in right field
24 mm, 4.1 g.

Yes, that is my understanding. I have also seen these from Nicomedia. You will notice, too, that they were minted up until 324 A.D., the year of Licinius' demise. I have also seen many more of these in the name of Constantine than of Licinius, so perhaps there was an element of propaganda intended by placing Constantine on a half nummus and Licinius on the nummus?

 

Valentinian, Congratulations on your recent score ! The price you paid for it was a super bargain too . If I didn't have a similar example in my collection purchased over a decade ago we would have had a bidding war on that coin . I thought the coin sold just before your follis came up was inferior & it sold for over a $100 more. If your coin had been in a European auction it would have sold for many times what you paid for it. European collectors have a greater appreciation for these rare large folles. Pictured below are two Diocletian folles & one of Constantius I as Caesar from my collection.


Diocletian, Trier Mint, 1st Officina, Struck AD 303 - May 1, 305. AE 10.61 gm, 29 mm, RIC 587a. The reverse has some roughness but the obverse looks good.



RIC 115a



This follis from the Lyon Mint is similar to your follis minus the helmet. RIC 170a.

 

Here's one of the few radiate-helmeted Maximianus types, this one from Lugdunum, with a similar look to the OP example. Reverse depicts Salus feeding a serpent.