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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gogili1977, post: 3027070, member: 86398&quot;]I found on the Internet this explanation:</p><p>In the year 294 A.D., the four Tetrarchs initiated a monetary reform, replaced the 80 years old <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Antoninianus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Antoninianus" rel="nofollow">Antoninianus</a> with new denominations, the most important of which were the solid silver <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Argenteus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Argenteus" rel="nofollow">argenteus</a> and the large <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Billon" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Billon" rel="nofollow">billon</a> <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=follis" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=follis" rel="nofollow">follis</a>. I must tell you that these were, and are, pretty impressive coins; large, 28mm <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Diameter" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Diameter" rel="nofollow">diameter</a> weighting app. 10 grams, and with a beautiful shiny silver wash finish. They <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Still" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Still" rel="nofollow">still</a> had elements from the past: the <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Good" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Good" rel="nofollow">good</a> manufacturing technique, derived from the Aurelian&#039;s reform and the same metal as the <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Antoninianus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Antoninianus" rel="nofollow">Antoninianus</a>, a mix of mostly copper, tin, and 3 to 5% silver. They were minted in huge quantities in no less than sixteen Imperial Mints. An interesting note is that even if one of the main purposes of these coins was to pay the large troops needed to defend the Empire, their portraiture rarely depicts the Emperors in a militaristic way. Most of the coins show a laureate <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Bare%20Head" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Bare%20Head" rel="nofollow">bare head</a>.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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