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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lrbguy, post: 2874743, member: 88829&quot;]Welcome to the list, Valpo, and to the world of ancients.&nbsp; I taught for a few years at the University there.&nbsp; You wouldn&#039;t be a Crusader would you?&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>So far in this thread no one has spoken to your coin of Diocletian.&nbsp; It is an antoninianus (double denarius) minted at the second officina (workshop) at Rome in 285-286 A.D.&nbsp; The reverse bears the IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG inscription which calls for the blessing of Jove (Jupiter) upon the two Augusti (Diocletian and Maximian) early in the formation of the first Tetrarchy.&nbsp; It features Jove bearing a thunderbolt and scepter, but I will leave it to you to figure out why.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We&#039;ll come back to that, but first a word of welcome.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>A fascination with History.&nbsp;&nbsp; Many people use the collecting of ancients to do Archaeology on the cheap.&nbsp; Sadly, this collecting field is not without condemnation from the corps of professional archaeologists.&nbsp; I mention it because you mentioned having a friend in TN who is in Archaeology.&nbsp; I hope your collecting interest will not come between you as his expertise and credentials grow.&nbsp; But if you are an aspiring professional in certain fields, you might want to keep the coins under your hat - for you would not be the first to go down in flames over your hobby.</p><p><br /></p><p>The good news is that ancient coins are endlessly fascinating at more than one level.&nbsp; Collecting by emperor is the basic historical approach.&nbsp; But Roman coins can also be collected by emperor and reverse types.&nbsp; Or, more deeply, by mint.&nbsp; Unlike modern coins, tiny detail differences were assigned to different mints and used to differentiate their products.&nbsp; Deeper yet, some of the coins can be differentiated by officina, that is, the workshops within a mint that did the actual production.&nbsp; The easiest to differentiate and collect by mint and officina are those Late Roman Bronzes you said are &quot;really just common.&quot;&nbsp; Yes, if only collected by emperor; no, if collected by mint and officina.&nbsp; For the first half of the 4th century there were as many as 16 mints operating at the same time, all of them divided into anywhere from 2 to 11 officinae.&nbsp;&nbsp; Learning the &quot;tells&quot; for an issue can be enormously fascinating and satisfying, or frustrating as all get out, depending on your temperament.</p><p><br /></p><p>The biggest task you have right now is learning how to read what is on a coin, no matter how messed up it may be.&nbsp; That will take a year or so if you stay with one issue; longer if you move around between issues.&nbsp; The best starter book for that is by Zander Klawans, <i>Reading and Dating Roman Imperial Coins</i>.&nbsp; Buy it, and then read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it.&nbsp; Stay with it, and you will be amazed at how much you can discover.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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