That's a sweet one. Best portrait of Maximian I've ever seen on a coin. And a London beauty to boot. Congrats. Here's my Maximian
..ok, so the coin i posted here is of Maximianus...and my other one is Galerius....i gotta member the nob. caesar bit on these...9_9
I used to confuse them all the time too. Coin identification get a little tricky during the mess that was the tetrarchy and its immediate aftermath.
Maximianus, Silvered Antoninianus, Lugdunum. (22mm., 3.53), Radiate and cuirassed bust right/ Rev.- PAX AUGG, RIC V 399
..yup...now i remember why i left that part of it way back when...time to twist one and let my mind wonder
@AdamsCollection you picked a fun, and challenging coin. I am always a bit hesitant attributing these. Here is a good thread on the challenge in distinguishing the right emperor between Galerius or Maximianus or Maximinus II. Note: in your post - you've left one letter off of the obverse legend: OBV: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG Here's my similar Post-Reform Radiate, Cyzicus, AD 295-299 - different officina Є Maximianus, first reign, AD 286-305, Struck AD 295-299, Cyzicus, Radiate Æ Obv: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Rev: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Jupiter presents Victory on a globe to Maximianus, KЄ between Ref: RIC 16b and a pre-reform, radiate: Maximianus, first reign, 286-305. Antoninianus, Rome, 286-93 Obv: IMP MAXIMIANVS P F AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximian to right Rev: IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG / XXIς Jupiter standing front, head to left, holding thunderbolt in his right hand and long scepter in his left Ref: RIC 506
Ah! yeah typo, the obverse legend is correct on my paper haha just didn't type it correctly! and nice coins! Definitely a fan of these ones, I had no idea about the difficulty attributing them, since this is my first Maximian coin!
Back in 1998, I received a request from a visitor to my web site asking for what became one of my favorite pages separating the MAX coins. After 21 years, I believe it still could be of interest to some: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/max.html The MAX matter is not the only example but certainly one that shows well how important it is to read each letter on our coins. As a quiz: Can you tell me if the coin below is a Maximianus or a Galerius?
None of the above! There is no 'A' in that MAXIMIANUS, but rather MAXIMINUS, a later Caeser. Here's a coin from Nikomedeia of Maximinus bearing the obverse legend of GAL VAL MAXIMINVS NOB CAES which could easily be misattributed to Galerius if not careful:
I love the coins of the tetrarchy including Maximianus. Here are GENIO POPVLI ROMANI folles (but not other reverses): http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Maximianfolles.html Here are aureliani (= antoniniani = pre-reform radiates): http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Maximian.html Here is how to distinguish Maximian (@dougsmit has a good page on this too): http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/distinguishing.html After Maximian had been required to retire he attempted to regain power and cemented an alliance with Constantine by having Constantine marry his daughter Fausta (sister of Maxentius). The story is quite complicated, but very interesting and there are coins illustrating the power shifts. The coins of 306 to 310 are discussed and illustrated here in the context of Constantine's rise to power (Maximian plays an important role): http://augustuscoins.com/ed/FILAVGG/ This London portrait is one of my favorites: Follis. 28 mm. RIC VI London 23b "C. 303 onward"
Nice score! I like Max's colourful career and have tried to track it through coins: Early Max (antoninianus, Ticinum, 285-88) Egyptian Max (last issue of Alexandrian tetradrachms, 295-6) Max takes back Britain (with Constantius's help, 296), follis first issue, London Max goes to Carthage (follis, 299-303) Little Max (post reform radiate, Rome, c. 303-4) Max retires (follis, Cyzicus, 305) Max says poo to you I don't want to retire (follis 307-8, Lugdunum) Dead Max (oops, should have stayed retired; quarter follis, Rome, 317-18): Given how he betrayed Constantine, it's a bit surprising that the latter issued coins commemorating him... at least after a few years' cool-down period.
Same RIC Nr as the Concordia Militum of @Alegandron but different mint mark: pre-reform Antoninianus, Antioch, 293 AD struck under Diocletian 21 mm, 3.83 g RIC V Diocletian 621; Ob.: IMP C MA MAXIMIANVS P F AVG Bust of Maximian, radiate, cuirassed, right Rev.: CONCORDIA MILI-TVM Maximian, draped, cuirassed, standing right, holding short scepter in r. hand and receiving Victory on globe from Jupiter; Jupiter, standing left, holding long scepter; mint mark Z // XXI
Maximianus Herculius Maximianus Herculius, silvered antoninianus 21 mm, 3.93 g, Kyzikos. Obv. IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right. Rev. CONCORDIA MILITVM, Emperor in military dress receiving globe from Jupiter; S in field, XXI (dot) in exergue. RIC 607
I know that I have shared this one before but here it is again.... Maximianus Herculius - Follis Obv:– IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:– GENIO IMP-ERATORIS, Genius standing left holding patera and cornucopia Minted in Antioch (_ | Theta / E //ANT Dot). Early to Later A.D. 309 Reference:– RIC VI Antioch 112c (R) (Citing Oxford; Apparently a rare issue for Maximianus Herculius and only issued from this officina) 6.39 gms. 26.19 mm. 0 degrees. Better than the RIC plate coin (reverse only illustrated). From RIC Notes "A very remarkable innovation, peculiar to this issue, is the reappearance of Herculius (with the long legend Imp C M Aur Val Maximianus P F Aug matching those of Galerius and Licinus, and with cuirassed bust) on rare coins with Genio Imperatoris; this is parallelled at the same time (see RIC VI page 656). Expelled from Italy c. April 308, and rejected at the Carnuntum conference in November 308, Herculius had received ample share in the coinage of Constantine's mints, and it seems that Maximinus (now antagonisitc to both Galerius and Licinius) may have been momentarily willing to demontsrate his hostility by including the name of the man who might still play and anti-Galerian part in the west."
Maximian's 2nd go-round as Augustus on a follis-type more usually associated with Maxentius (his son): http://old.stoa.org/gallery/album479/12_Maximian_2nd_Follis_307_CUS_TIC?full=1 and a half-follis for his 2nd abdication: http://old.stoa.org/gallery/album479/15_Maximinus_2nd_Abd_half_Follis_307_8_PD_ALE?full=1 The posthumous issues for Maximian (I have no photo but there's one upthread) could have been struck despite the lingering conflict between him and Constantine because he was Constantine's father-in law - Fausta's father. And my entry in the fully-silvered Maximian category: http://old.stoa.org/gallery/album481/08_Maximian_Follis_296_7_GPR_TIC?full=1