Not really something I collect, but when someone offered this piece up for sale, the portrait was so sharp, particularly the detail in the hair, that I couldn't turn it down. It ended up being even better in hand than the sellers photos. Being a beard man myself, its hard to resist a good beardy portrait. Diocletian AD 284-305, AE Follis 28mm 9.7g. Struck at Aquileia. Obv. IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, laureate head right. Rev. SACRA MONET AVGG ET CAESS NOSTR, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopia. AQP in exergue. RIC VI 29a. Silvered and sharply struck on a broad flan. EF.
Gorgeous coin, @kazuma78! Nice acquisition for your collection. Here's a Sacra Moneta. I wish the reverse legend were completely on the flan, but I like the coin anyway. 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: SACRA MON VRB AVGG ET CAESS NN, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae; star in right field, R P in exergue. Refs: RIC vi, p. 362, 103a; Cohen 434; RCV 12815.
kazuma, Great score on your follis ! What makes your coin extra special, aside from the MS condition, it's been struck from fresh dies, both obverse & reverse. The Aquileia Mint struck coins of exceptional quality during the Diocletian era. A couple of years ago I scored a handsome follis of Maximian from that mint, also from the 1st officina, see photo below. Maximian, AD 286-310 (struck AD 300), Aquileia Mint, 1st Officina, AE Follis: 9.87 gm, 28 mm, 11 h. RIC 29b. I also have a fine follis of Diocletian from the Aquileia Mint, pictured below.
Those are both great pieces! Its interesting that the Aquileia mint struck such nice pieces and your Maximian looks VERY similar to mine, though a different ruler. Both are excellent examples.
A great looking Diocletian, @kazuma78, impressively sharp. Diocletian, Silvered, Æ Follis, Heraclea, AD 296-297, 11.31g Obv: IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, laureate head right Rev: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera from which liquid flows, and cornucopiae; HTΔ in exergue Ref: RIC 17a
Beautiful coin... 12 second video showing my example.. my photography is so terrible I tried doing videos for awhile.
An excellent coin for sure. Some years ago I did the same with that Heraclea mint Galerius : the portrait stood out so much I couldn't resist Galerius, Follis - Heraclea mint, 5th officina, c. AD 296-298 GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES, Laureate bust of Galerius right GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, , Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia, HTE at exergue 10.58 gr Ref : RCV # 14372 (90), Cohen #78 Q
