I hope that some of you who are more experienced with coins of the tetrarchy can help me out on this one. I'm pretty sure that there's too much space for this to read SAC M VRB AVGG ET CAESS NN. However, I'm not able to tell whether it might read SAC MON VRB AVGG ET CAESS NN or SACRA MON VRB AVGG ET CAESS NN. Thoughts? Feel free to post anything similar/relevant! Thanks! Diocletian, AD 284-305. Roman billon follis, 10.80 g, 23.6 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 302-305. Obv: IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, Laureate head, right. Rev: SA[...]B AVGG ET CAESS NN, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae; star in right field, R P in exergue.
For a web page on the type, see here: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/SACRAMONETA.html The link to the varieties from Rome has similar examples for Maximian and Constantius. Here is the Maximian: Maximian 29 mm. 12.13 grams. IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG SAC MON VRB AVGG ET CAESS NN * RS in exergue RIC Rome 105b "c. 302-3"
Not scientific but, the B of VRB is at 12 o'clock and you can see the first 5 letters of the legend SACRA. This leaves a big space for just 5 more letters so it has to be SACRA MON VRB. Hope this makes sense.
That's a tough one with so much of the inscription missing . Pictured below is another example from the Rome mint from a coin of Severus II. The reverse inscription on this coin matches the example posted by Valentinian, & your coin is probably the same.
Tough call @Roman Collector - to illustrate here are two frankencoins with the different legends: I lean toward SACRA as I see an A at 9 o'clock vs. an O, but both are possible.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this comparison is worth a close look. I spotted this follis on a quick Google search, it's from Beast Coins. It is a follis of Diocletian with the same mint mark & officina mark as R.C.'s coin. The only difference is the crescent between the marks & the missing star.
As you see the shorter variant is spaced out on the left and the text is compressed at the right. For the coin in question it is clearly the SACRA variant.
and to add more beatings to the poor horse room for ambiguity in my view, depending on where you see letters on the left edge - here's how I see (imagine?) the layout.
