Featured Diocletian: Two Interesting Coins and a Legacy of Reform

Curtisimo, super post and coins!!!

Doug

 

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I have started a thread relating to the problems encountered when attributing folles of Maximian Herculius (Maximianus) vs Galerius Maximian (Galerius). I made it a separate thread (although it certainly has applicability here) so that it would be more noticeable to general Coin Talk participants - I get numerous private enquiries with questions relating to this subject.

 

Wow, @Curtisimo! Another fantastic writeup . Next week when I have internet I need to just search by your name to see what other goodies I've missed.

 

Thank you @TIF. I'm excited to hear that you will have internet again soon so you can hang out at CT more

Instead of binge watching Netflix shows like most people coin collectors can binge read CT I am still going back to stuff that was posted before I joined to see what I missed.

 

Way to go making me feel almost guilty as I prepare to wind down for the day by bingeing on some Netflix .

 

Lol there is no shame in it. I lost two weeks of my life to Game of Thrones once... so worth it

 

That’s right, ancient coin collectors are people too. And now, back to my regular programming...

 

Spectacular.
It's insane that his dining table is still in existence. Wow.

That purple stone, porphyry, was later often used in spolia, where fragments of statues or whole columns were essentially stolen from their original places and inserted into walls of later palaces or buildings, in order to up the respect factor. Plus, in later years porphyry got so expensive that the only way to get it was to snatch it from somewhere else. Some sources say that good porphyry was worth its weight in gold. Ouch.

Also, I got marked down in my Roman Art class in college when I wrote the location of Diocletian's Palace as "Spalato" (the older Italian name of the city) instead of "Split".

 

• I want to re-visit the following coin - excuse my tardiness in not doing this sooner, but I experience great difficult in doing simple tasks such as navigating this forum and even typing due to the soreness and pain I am experiencing since I bruised/cracked my ribs during a recent fall. With that out of the way ..........
  
  The coin I depict here - a Lugdunum mint follis (marked LA) referred to by Sutherland in his introductory text to the Londinium section of RIC Volume VI, pages 114/115 and his introductory text to the Lugdunum section, pages 230/231 - is of great historical importance because it is one of the first Diocletian reformed AE coins (folles) issued. I have found these coins very hard to come by - this specimen is the only one I have owned.
  
  For Curtisimo - I want to be sure this coin ends up with a collector who has a great passion for Diocletian coinage (and the historical associations attending it). You embody that - if you would like to have this coin, let me know via PM and I will mail it to you.
  
  
  RIC Volume VI, Lugdunum, Group I, (ii), Diocletian, No. 2a
  
  

• Obverse: IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG

• Reverse: GENIO POP - VLI ROMANI

• Exergue: LA

• 8.5 gm.

 

I would be honored to receive this fantastic coin, sir. Thank you jamesicus

I am also truly sorry that you are still feeling unwell from your fall. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

• What happened to RIC, Vol. VI, LONDINIUM Group I, Class I? The coin listings of Group I commence with Class II. Why not Class I and what happened to the coin listings for that Class anyway? The answer is that the entire listing identified as Class I was transferred to RIC, Vol. VI, LUGDUNUM, (iv), folles, Class I (14a-21) -- the Invasion coinage of Bastien (undoubtedly prior to publication). Sutherland explains all this in his Introductory text to the LONDINIUM section of RIC VI. The bottom line is the quote of Sutherland that ".......... Bastien is to be followed in regarding the unmarked coins of Class I as an issue prepared in advance for Constantius' invasion of Britain in 296."

 

Love the write-up and the conversation. Really feel like this article should be submitted to the Numismatist. I also feel like you learn something new about Roman history every day. Had no clue there was such intact Roman ruins in Split.

 

Thank you for your kind words. I don't pretend to be a numismatist (some on here surely are), just an overly enthusiastic coin enthusiast.

I agree that it is really amazing how much is left of Diocletian's palace. Here are a few places I didn't show in my earlier write up.

The Golden Gate and northern walls




The Temple of Jupiter



The exterior of Diocletian's Mausoleum


I thought it was a beautiful city. One of the most fascinating places I've ever been.

 

The following silvered coin of Diocletian was struck in Trier. It has Genio on reverse.
RIC VI - Trier 582 a .

 

Thanks for writing this up! So informative and interesting! Which of these coin(s) do you own? And I see that you went to some of these places in person. What countries/cities did you go to?

 

Thank you Ellen for the nice reply. I own the below coins and the rest are from CNGs archives (a fantastic resource for research).




On my trip I got the opportunity to visit Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/da...ved-the-memory-of-a-lost-civilization.303223/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-museum-that-values-its-ancient-coin-collection.305085/

I saw a lot of cities that I only had a small amount of time for but the main places I got to explore pretty well were:
Split
Plitvice
Mostar
Stolech
Dubrovnik
Kotor
Risan
Budva

It was well worth it. One of my favorite regions I've visited.

Welcome to CoinTalk!

 

Thanks for the welcome and for your informative reply!

 

Thanks so much for the absolutely stunning article of Diocletian, his palace in Split, Croatia, related coins etc. My feeling is that us "coin-talkers" benefit far more from our hobby by learning about any relevant historical background. The article, together with some fascinating photos, was a feast for eye and mind. No objection to penny-snippets as well. But such an article is top of of the ladder, educationally and artistically, and the author truly deserves to be congratulated.
About a month ago, I purchased a small Diocletian coin, which I have treasured. It now means even more to me.

 

Thank you for your very nice and thoughtful reply and welcome to CT!

I would love to see your Diocletian coin if you have photos of it?