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Retirement issues of Diocletian, AD 305-310
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<p>[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 5007117, member: 44316"]I am a big fan of the retirement issues of Diocletian and Maximian. I got a remarkably small one in the mail.</p><p><br /></p><p>We have discussed retirement issues on CT and in June I showed one:</p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-diocletian-abdication-follis.360485/page-2#post-4594862" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-diocletian-abdication-follis.360485/page-2#post-4594862">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-diocletian-abdication-follis.360485/page-2#post-4594862</a></p><p>The June example is the one on the left here and the new example is on the right. The first photo is intended to show you their relative sizes. The new one is not in nice shape, but it was part of a large lot, inexpensive, and different enough to interest me.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1201284[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Old example: 28-27 mm, the normal size. They were minted at 13 mints and quite common. (This one is from London--see the old thread.)</p><p>New example, 23-22 mm. Examples this small are not common.</p><p>The obverse legend of the coin on the left is</p><p>DN DIOCLETIANO <b>FELICISSMO</b> SEN AVG</p><p>Laureate bust right in imperial mantle, holding olive branch (symbolizing peace) and mappa (a cloth dropped by the emperor to start chariot races).</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin on the right is similar with legend:</p><p>DN DIOCLETIANO <b>BAEATISSIMO</b> SEN AVG</p><p><br /></p><p>But it is not the difference in obverse legend that is most interesting to me.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1201285[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse legend is a tiny bit different in a significant way. Instead of</p><p>PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES <b>AVGG</b></p><p>Providential and Quies standing facing each other</p><p>it is</p><p>PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES <b>AVG</b>, with one G. Maximian does not participate in this issue. It is issued so late that Maximian is either dead or considered no longer in good standing. That explains why RIC dates it to 310. (Maximian was forced to retire a second time in late 308 (by the Conference at Carnuntum) and executed by Constantine in 310.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins in the period 305ff were getting rapidly smaller. Coins that had been 11 to 9 grams in 305 were being minted at 6 grams by 310. This coin is 5.88 grams.</p><p><br /></p><p>Diocletian. 284-305. </p><p>RIC VI Antioch 136 "R3" "310". </p><p><br /></p><p>When a coin has low condition like that, even rarity does not make it valuable. You see a lot of dealers touting lousy coins as "rare" with high prices--often several times what similar coins actually sell for. I doubt they ever sell at those high levels. If they were EF+ that would make a different story. However, this small example is not worth much and I don't claim to have gotten a great bargain by spotting it in a large lot. If you see an EF coin of this small type in an auction, let me know.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have a web page on retirement issues and this coin has already been added to it:</p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/retirement.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/retirement.html" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/retirement.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Show us something related![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 5007117, member: 44316"]I am a big fan of the retirement issues of Diocletian and Maximian. I got a remarkably small one in the mail. We have discussed retirement issues on CT and in June I showed one: [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-diocletian-abdication-follis.360485/page-2#post-4594862[/URL] The June example is the one on the left here and the new example is on the right. The first photo is intended to show you their relative sizes. The new one is not in nice shape, but it was part of a large lot, inexpensive, and different enough to interest me. [ATTACH=full]1201284[/ATTACH] Old example: 28-27 mm, the normal size. They were minted at 13 mints and quite common. (This one is from London--see the old thread.) New example, 23-22 mm. Examples this small are not common. The obverse legend of the coin on the left is DN DIOCLETIANO [B]FELICISSMO[/B] SEN AVG Laureate bust right in imperial mantle, holding olive branch (symbolizing peace) and mappa (a cloth dropped by the emperor to start chariot races). The coin on the right is similar with legend: DN DIOCLETIANO [B]BAEATISSIMO[/B] SEN AVG But it is not the difference in obverse legend that is most interesting to me. [ATTACH=full]1201285[/ATTACH] The reverse legend is a tiny bit different in a significant way. Instead of PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES [B]AVGG[/B] Providential and Quies standing facing each other it is PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES [B]AVG[/B], with one G. Maximian does not participate in this issue. It is issued so late that Maximian is either dead or considered no longer in good standing. That explains why RIC dates it to 310. (Maximian was forced to retire a second time in late 308 (by the Conference at Carnuntum) and executed by Constantine in 310.) Coins in the period 305ff were getting rapidly smaller. Coins that had been 11 to 9 grams in 305 were being minted at 6 grams by 310. This coin is 5.88 grams. Diocletian. 284-305. RIC VI Antioch 136 "R3" "310". When a coin has low condition like that, even rarity does not make it valuable. You see a lot of dealers touting lousy coins as "rare" with high prices--often several times what similar coins actually sell for. I doubt they ever sell at those high levels. If they were EF+ that would make a different story. However, this small example is not worth much and I don't claim to have gotten a great bargain by spotting it in a large lot. If you see an EF coin of this small type in an auction, let me know. I have a web page on retirement issues and this coin has already been added to it: [URL]http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/retirement.html[/URL] Show us something related![/QUOTE]
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