The last GENIO POPVLI ROMANI

Diocletian's coin reform of c. 294 initiated the very common GENIO POPVLI ROMANI type at fourteen mints. The type was replaced at central mints by the SACRA MONETA type c. 300 and discontinued at the other mints in 307 before Constantine became Augustus. After Maxentius was defeated in 312 Constantine revived the type on a smaller flan for a short while at Ticinum and Rome. The last appearance of the GENIO POPVLI ROMANI legend was for Licinius and Constantine at Alexandria when Licinius took over the mint upon the death of Maximinus II in 313. The last design was modified by having Genius hold the head of Serapis.




Licinius
22-20 mm. 5.40 grams. (Much smaller than the earlier folles.)
IMP C LICINIVS PF AVG
Genius holds head of Serapis in his right hand
N over palm branch in left field
H over wreath in right field
ALE • in exergue
RIC VII Alexandria 5 "313-314"



Constantine
Alexandria
21 mm. 6.03 grams. (Much smaller than the earlier folles.)
II over palm branch in left field
FL VALER CONSTANTINVS PF AVG
Genius holds head of Serapis in his right hand
Δ over wreath in right field
ALE • in exergue
RIC VII Alexandria 4 "313-314"

I have a website on the GENIO POPVLI ROMANI type:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Diocletianfolles.html

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Oooh... I need one of those!! I just have the GENIO AVGVSTI from the year before, same devices:


Meanwhile I've been trying to complete the set of first year folles from 294. (A very difficult set.) Here's one, from Ticinum:

 

Thank you @Valentinian !

My latest GENIO POPVLI

MAXIMINUS II


RI Maximinus II Daia 305-308 CE Folles AE 26mm Trier mint GENIO POPV-LI Genius-Serapis stndg RIC VI Treveri 667b


SEVERUS II


RI Severus II 306-307 CE AE18 GENIO POPVLI Quarter Folles Siscia mint

 

MAXIMINUS II DAIA
AE Follis
OBVERSE: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS PF AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: GENI-O-AVGVSTI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding head of Serapis and cornucopiae. X-A across fields; ALE in ex.
Struck at Alexandria 312 AD
4.83g, 21mm
RIC VI 149b
Ex Spink

 

Two Maximinus II with same reverse legend, but different objects in hand. Also vastly varied bust types.




Here's a version of the OP coin, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI. This is very tiny, about 18mm, and pretty much looks and feels like a late empire denarius, laureate and all.

 

I have 9 different GENIO types in my CtG collection, Here's 5:

Cyzicus mint, A.D. 307
RIC 26b
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES
Rev: GENIO AVGG ET - CAESARVM NN - Genius, with modius on head and chlamys on shoulders, holding patera and cornucopiae.
KA in exergue; ✳ in right field.
27 x 29 mm, 10.1 g.


Treveri (Trier) mint, A.D. 307
RIC 693b
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB C
Rev: GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, towered, with loins draped, holding patera and cornucopiae.
PTR in exergue; S in left field, A in right.
29 x 27 mm, 6.9 g.


London mint, A.D. 307
RIC 88b
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB C
Rev: GENIO POP ROM - Genius, draped, wearing modius and holding patera and cornucopiae
PLN in exergue
25 mm, 7.0 g.


Alexandria mint, A.D. 308-310
RIC 99b
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS FIL AVG
Rev: GENIO CA-ESARIS - Genius, modius on head, pouring wine from patera and holding cornucopiae
ALE in exergue; K in left field, A over P in right
23 x 25 mm, 7.4 g.


Siscia mint, A.D. 309-310
RIC 200b
Obv: CONSTANTINVS FIL AVGG
Rev: GENIO AV-GVSTI - Genius, wearing modius on head, with patera and cornucopiae
SIS in exergue; U in left field, Γ in right
25 mm, 5.4 g.

 

And the last 4:

Antioch mint, A.D. 310-311
RIC 147d
Obv: IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Rev: GENIO EX-ERCITVS - Genius with cornucopiae, pouring wine from patera over altar
ANT in exergue; U in left field, I in right
23 x 21 mm, 5.4 g.


Cyzicus mint, A.D. 311
RIC 77b
Obv: IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Rev: GENIO AV-GVSTVS CMH [lignate] - Genius, modius on head, pouring wine from patera, holding cornucopiae
MKVB in exergue
22 mm, 5.2 g.


Alexandria mint, A.D. 311-312
RIC 145
Obv: FL VALERIVS CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Rev: BONO GENIO PII IMPERATORIS - Genius, modius on head, holding cornucopiae and pouring wine from patera
ALE in exergue; [crescent] over K in left field, A over X in right
25 x 23 mm, 7.0 g.

And the last one:

Alexandria mint, A.D. 313
RIC 163
Obv: FL VALER CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Rev: GENIO AVGVSTI - Genius, with cornucopiae, holding head of Serapis; star above, palm branch at feet
ALE in exergue; N in left field, A above wreath in right
21 mm, 4.2 g.

 

Here's one of those first post-reform GPRs. This is RIC VI Rome 45a for Diocletian from the mint of Rome.

Diocletian's coinage reform, as well as introducing the nummus, made the coinage much more consistent across all mints. One of the changes was for all mints to identify their output by including a mintmark with the name of the mint. It seems the intention was for the mintmark to go at the bottom of the coin (in the exergue), but perhaps that wasn't clearly specified since Rome and Siscia instead chose to put it in the field on their initial issues.



This coin is from Rome, as indicated by the "R" in field. It was actually sold as London, since the seller had only paid attention to the empty exergue!

These first issue nummi mostly only indicate the mint, omitting any officina. It seems there must have been a follow-on order to add an officina letter as part of this new cross-mint standardization, since these then appear in subsequent issues.

The mints of Antioch and Alexandria differ from the rest in starting production already with an officina, perhaps due to starting production a bit later when this follow-on order had been received.

 

A nice example from Trier

 

@gsimonel already showed one, but here's the final Alexandrian GENIO AVGVSTI issue by Maximinus II (here for Constantine), paired with this immediately following GENIO POPVLI ROMANI type issued by Licinius when he took over the mint.




Who says Licinius wasn't a numismatic innovator ?!

 

Alexandria mint:

Transitioning from a pagan to a Christian world. Fun fact: The last emperor whose name was inscribed in hieroglyphs inside the royal cartouche was Trajan Decius at the temple of Esna.

One of the last emperors whose coins featured the syncretic god Serapis was Maximinus Daia. (I learned above that Licinius and Constantine actually struck the type after Daia's death.) The Serapeum was destroyed by a Christian mob in the year 391.

 

Bronze coin (AE Follis) minted at ANT=Antiochia during the reign of CONSTANTIUS I between 300 - 301 A.D. as Caesar. Obv. FL.VAL.CONSTANTIVS.NOB.CAES.: Rev. GENIO.POPV-LI. ROMANI.: Genius standing l., modius on head, naked but for chlamys over l. shoulder, r. holding patera (from which liquor flows) l. cornucopia. RCS #3673. RIC VI #55a pg. 620.


Bronze coin (AE Follis) minted at S*=Rome during the reign of MAXIMIANUS between 299 - 300 A.D. Obv. IMP.C.MAXIMIANVS.P.F.AVG.: Rev. GENIO.POPV-LI. ROMANI.: Genius standing l., modius on head, naked but for chlamys over l. shoulder, r. holding patera, l. cornucopia. RCS #3631. RIC VI #96b pg. 361.

 

Here my latest example of this type, minted with Constantines own bust instead of the typical tetrarch busts:
Emperor Constantine I. - GENIO POP ROM - Ostia mint

 

Nice group! For more about the nine GENIO types, here is an educational page on them:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/GENIO.html

This rare Genius legend was issued only at Antioch and only in the name of Constantine:



Constantine
24 mm.
FL VAL CONSTANTINVS FIL AVG
GENIO FIL AVGG
..... O
..... Є
ANT•

RIC VI Antioch 105 "c. early to later 309".

 

Maximianus - Lyon




Maximianus - Antioch




Constantius - Trier




Galerius - Heraclea




Galerius - Trier




Galerius - Lyon




Severus II - Heraclea




Constantine the Great - Trier




Q

 

@Cucumbor , that is a super group! I'm happy to see that someone else thinks they make a neat series to collect.

If anyone wonders about the collectable types under the First Tetrarchy (Diocletian and colleagues) and later, here is a page of links to topics:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/extra.html

 

Here's a skinny Genio from Heraclea

A leggy Genio from Thessalonica

And an elegant Genio from Trier

 

The GENIO series also appears on a curious subset of 1/4 nummi from Siscia. Note the size and weight of this one:

Severus II
Caesar, A.D. 305-306
Augustus, A.D. 306-307
Bronze 1/4 Nummus
Siscia mint, A.D. 305-306
Obv: FL VAL SEVERVS NOB C
Rev: GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, modius on head, naked but for chlamys hanging from shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae
SIS in exergue
RIC 170a
19mm, 2.3g.

 

Also, we haven't seen the Genius holding the head of Sol yet, so here's an example:

Maximinus II ("Daia")
Caesar, A.D. 305-309
Filius Augustorum, A.D. 309-310
Augustus, A.D. 310-313
Bronze Nummus
Antioch mint, A.D. 312
Obv: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG
Rev: GENIO AVGVSTI - Genius, modius on head, naked but for chlamys hanging from shoulder, holding head of Sol and cornucopiae
ANT in exergue; ✳ in left field, S in right
RIC 164b
22mm, 4.7g.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I, too, am very fond of these GENIO reverses.

 

I love this thread. Delving into the history of the type, here are some precursors to this Genius figure on earlier Imperial coins:


On an As of Nero (my photo, but not my coin)


On a denarius of Trajan


On an antoninianus of Aurelian (GENIVS EXERCITI)