GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, variety

I love the GENIO POPVLI ROMANI coins of the first tetrarchy. They are big and often in very nice condition. The legend and basic type continued, much less frequently, after the first tetrarchy was over. Here is one that is interesting because it has the same legend and basic Genius type, but has Genius holding the head of Serapis and several control marks in the fields.

Constantine (307-337). RIC VII Alexandria 4 "313-314". 21 mm (not as big as the earlier issues), 6.03 grams.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left holding head of Serapis (instead of the usual patera) and cornucopia
N over palm branch in left field, Delta over R in right field. ALE in exergue.

Show us your GENIO POPVLI ROMANI coins, especially those with some variation on the usual type.

 

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Nice coin and I too like the series.

MAXIMIANUS
AE Follis
OBVERSE: IMP C MA MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, holding patera & cornucopia, Delta to right, dot TS dot in ex.
Struck at Thessalonica, 302/3 AD
10.3g, 27mm
RIC VI 25b

SEVERUS II
Quarter Follis
OBVERSE: SEVERVS NOB C, laureate head right
REVERSE: GGENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, with chlamys over l. shoulder, patera & cornucopiae; SIS in ex.
Struck at Siscia 305-6 AD
2.3g, 20mm
RIC VI Siscia 171a

 

Here is my first tetrarchy "G POP", I don't know enough about these to know if there is anything particularly interesting about this coin.



Galerius as caesar, 293 – 305 AD, Æ Follis

GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES Laureate head r. Rev. GENIO POPV – LI ROMANI Genius standing l., with modius on head and naked but for chlamys , holding patera and cornucopiae; S in r. field, D in l. field, ANT In exergue, Antioch, 28 mm, 9.9g, RIC 53b.

 

All London mint -- hardly any Genius depiction variation:

RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group I, (i), folles, c. 297, No. 1a-5, obverse and reverse in the style of the unknown continental mint invasion coinage, laureate head, right, with bare neck truncation, long ribbon tie laying on neck. Smaller and more compact lettering. LON in reverse exergue.

No. 1a - Diocletian:


IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI
LON (exergue)

Intermediate Group folles (Bastien) c. 297 that often feature Lugdunum style laureate heads and London style lettering. Sometimes with laureate busts in fine style with elaborate consular cuirasses (Stewartby).

Galerius Maximian as Caesar Intermediate Group (Bastien: a) - laureate truncated bare bust with long ribbon tie lying on neck:


C VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB C
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI

Constantius as Caesar Intermediate Group (Bastien: b) - refined portrait - laureate, cuirassed bust with long ribbon tie lying on neck:


FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group I, (ii), folles, Class II (a), c. 300 onward, No. 6-16 - Cuirassed, laureate bust - small head on a tall neck.


No. 6b - Maximian Herculius:


IMP C MAXIMIANVS P F AVG
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI

No. 14a - Constantius as Caesar:


FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group I, (ii), folles, Class II, (b), c. 300 onward, No. 17-22 - Laureate bust, cuirassed - shorter neck and proportional head.

No. 17 - Maximian Herculius:


IMP C MAXIMIANVS P F AVG
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group I, (iii), folles, Class III, c. 303 onward, No. 23-39 - Large, spread, laureate bust, cuirassed and sometimes draped.

No. 28a - Diocletian:


IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI

No. 33 - Galerius Maximian as Caesar:


MAXIMIANVS NOBIL C
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group II, Period I: until the death of Constantius on 25 July 306. Mostly laureate busts, cuirassed and sometimes draped.


No. 59a - Severus as Caesar:


SEVERVS NOBILISSIMVS CAES
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


No. 63a - Severus as Caesar:


SEVERVS NOBILIS C
GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI

 

here is an example that sold on eBay last year. It is different because of the obverse bust.

"...it has a decorated shield…emperor on horseback. Bastien notes two different shield decorations for this number (#210a)…empereur à cheval, like this one, and an example with a trophy and prisoner on either side (#210b)."

Constantius I
26mm 8.6gm
A.D. 301- 303
CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES; laureate and cuirassed bust left, spear over right shoulder, decorated shield on left.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, right holding patera, left cornucopiae; B in right.
In ex. PLC
RIC VI Lyons 150

 

Mine is rather like yours, Warren. I like the Fu Manchu mustache Constantine is sporting here. Mine's still got some decent silvering.



EMPEROR: Constantine I
REIGNED: 306-337 A.D.
DATE STRUCK: 312-313 A.D.
TYPE: AE silvered follis or nummus
SIZE: 21 mm.
WEIGHT: 4.62 g.
DIE AXIS: 0°
OBVERSE: [FL] VALER CONSTANTINVS PF AVG; laureate head right.
REVERSE: GENIO AVGVSTI; In field: */N/palm branch – A; Genius standing left, holding head of Serapis and cornucopia.
EXERGUE: ALE; Alexandria mint
REFERENCES: RIC VI Alexandria 161
EX: VCOINS: Gert Boersema, Hasselt, Netherlands.

NOTES:

“VF, rev. EF with great detail on rev., nearly fully silvered.” “Serapis was created [in Alexandria] by the first Ptolemy to make a bridge between the Egyptian and Hellenic inhabitants. It was this same Ptolemy who made Alexandria the capital of Egypt, so Alexandria and Serapis certainly belong together…Sol and Serapis are clearly meant to be similar in their symbolic meanings. On this coin, the similar headwear of Genius and Serapis is obvious. But although they are identical in their meaning, there is a subtle difference. Genius wears a modius, a basket or sometimes a metal container used as a public corn measure; Serapis wears a kalathos, a basket with a more domestic background. Neither would seem to us to be an obvious choice as headwear.” --Bill Welch

 

Well, I just posted my new head-on-a-platter in another thread, but happy to post here too!

Maximinus II Daia (308-313), Alexandria (312/13), RIC 160b. Genius holding the head of Serapis. ex Dattari


And here's another... not necessarily interesting for the design, but it is one of the last productions of the Heraclea mint before it was shut down, with all operations transferred to Thessalonica:

 

Some nice coins have been posted here. The monotonous sameness of the reverses is of no great import for me -- my collection of these London issue unreduced folles reflects the historical progression of the coinage produced under the auspicies of Constantius and, coincidentally, the changes in his London portraiture as he aged.

 

GENIO POPVLI ROMANI - Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, Constantius I

 

These are special to me for some reason but not really rare or special to the market.
A Diocletian leftie from Trier


Near the beginning of the reform, some mints marked the new AE1 coins XXI to point out that they were still using the alloy as used in the pre-reform antoniniani. Diocletian Alexandria


Galerius Alexandria splitting the XX-I across the fields


and Siscia in exergue before the city name.


The last of the Genius coins came after the flans were shrinking. This London Licinius AE3 saved space by abbreviating the legend GENIO POP ROM.

 

There are some great rarities among the London mint coinage issued by Constantius -- or at least there are some that are very hard to come by. It seems I have spent most of my past fifty collection years ferreting out LON marked (reverse exergue) and Constantius as Augustus London issue coins -- and I have only been able to locate a very few. Severus II London coins are also hard to find, but not as much as the other two I list. I would greatly appreciate all image postings of the aforementioned coins from any personal collection.

Constantius as Augustus London mint unreduced follis with very rare first type obverse inscription:

IMP CONSTANTIVS PIVS FEL AVG (RIC Volume VI, Londinium, No. 47)

 

here's a rare GENIO POP ROM, not in RIC or LMCC

CT 5.04.003.5 IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG Bust B2 (z) left ( 28.0 x 27.0 mm 7.06 g 6h). Shield is decorated with two captives seated back to back, trophy between. Steve Thomas collection.

 

That is a nice coin Victor -- thank you for posting it. I notice that it is a Cloke/Toone image -- I was too ill to participate in their book production but I did grant Hugh Cloke blanket permission to use any of my London mint Constantius coin images he wished and I believe he did use some in their London Mint book. Not the one you posted however -- I only collect unreduced folles produced during the lifetime of Constantius.

 

And, they are usually not in great condition when found. Witness mine:


Diocletian with LON mintmark.
28-26 mm. 8.37 grams.
RIC London 1a, plate 1.1, page 123


Maximian with LON mintmark.
RIC London 1b, page 123.

 

Thank you for posting those images Valentinian. I agree with your assessment -- I have some pretty "scuzzy" ones also. My 1a Diocletian is the nicest one I have ever had. I will post some more images of GENIO POPVLI ROMANI coins after I have rested -- my accursed edema and lower leg pain means I can only sit at my computer for short periods of time. BTW, I corresponded with Dr. Vogelaar regarding his nice LON mint mark coins before he died -- I own a couple of his coins.

 

LICINIUS I
AE2 Follis
OBVERSE: IMP LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: GENIO POP ROM S-F, Genius standing left, modius on head, loins draped, holding patera & cornucopia, PLN in ex.
Struck at London 313-4 AD
3.2g, 22mm
RIC VII 3

LICINIUS I
AE2 Follis
OBVERSE: IMP LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: GENIO POP ROM S-F, Genius standing left, modius on head, loins draped, holding patera & cornucopia, PLN in ex.
Struck at London 313-4 AD
3.1g, 21mm
RIC VII 3

MAXIMINUS II DAIA
AE2 Follis
OBVERSE: IMP MAXIMINVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: GENIO POP ROM, Genius standing left, towered, loins draped, holding patera and cornucopiae. T-F across fields, PTR in ex.
Struck at Treveri 310-13 AD
3.9g, 22mm
RIC VI Trier 851a.

 

A regular Genio reverse with a scarcer bust type

Maximianus - Follis

Obv:– IMP C MAXIMIANVS AVG, Laureate, cuirassed bust left, holding club over right shoulder and lion's skin in left hand
Rev:– GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, left hand holding cornucopiae and right hand holding patera, plain altar beneath.
Minted in Lugdunum (_ | A //PLC). Officina 1. Spring A.D. 300 – A.D. 302
Reference(s) – Bastien 148 (8 examples cited). RIC VI Lugdunum 85 (Rated S)

 

More LON mint marked folles:

RIC Volume VI, Londinium, No. 1b:


IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG ... GENIO POPVLI ROMANI - LON (ex)

RIC Volume VI, Londinium, No. 4b:


C VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB C ... GENIO POPVLI ROMANI - LON (ex)

RIC Volume VI, Londinium, No. 5:


MAXIMIANVS NOBIL CAES ... GENIO POPVLI ROMANI - LON (ex)

 

Struck in Antioch, under Emperor Maximianus.