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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 7968982, member: 44316&quot;]Serdica was a Roman [EDIT: Roman <b>imperial</b>] mint opened under Aurelian c. 271. Serdica is the name for the Roman city on the site of modern city of Sophia, capital of Bulgaria (see the google map).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1381987[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It continued to mint for Tacitus, Florian, and Probus (276-282), but apparently closed before Carus (282-284). It reopened c. 304 shortly before Diocletian (284-305) retired May 1, 305. <i>RIC</i> says the mint of Thessalonica (also on the map) closed c. 303 which prompted the opening of Serdica, closer to the action and probably where an emperor was located at the time (There are arguments that &quot;SM&quot; [Sacra Moneta = sacred mint] was used in mintmarks when an emperor was present.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The GENIO POPVLI ROMANI type initiated in the coin reform of c. 294 is very common, but less so from Serdica which had not been open very long. I was happy to get this nice example for Diocletian:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1382004[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG</p><p>Laureate head right</p><p>GENIO POPVLI ROMANI</p><p>•SM•SD•</p><p><i>RIC</i> Serdica 3a &quot;c.303/4-5.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The most distinctive feature of GENIO POPVLI ROMANI coins from Serdica is the long legs and short torso of Genius leaning back. Thessalonica has about half the much&nbsp; exaggeration of the pose, and it is likely the engraver from Serdica had been at Thessalonica.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>If you would like to see some GENIO POPVLI ROMANI coins from other emperors and mints, see here:</p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/bymint.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/bymint.html" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/bymint.html</a></p><p>Or here:</p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Diocletianfolles.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Diocletianfolles.html" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/ed/tetrarchy/Diocletianfolles.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>There are other interesting coins from Serdica. Show us some![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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