Overview: In 293 Diocletian finalized the Institution of a Tetrarchy -- government of the Empire by four interacting rulers -- two Augusti assisted by two subordinate Caesars, which each Augustus would personally select. The two Caesars, chosen because of their proven leadership abilities, assisted the Augusti with civil administration and command of the armies. Caius Galerius Valerius Maximianus was chosen by Diocletian to be his Caesar of the East and Flavius Valerius Constantius was chosen by Maximian Herculius be his Caesar of the West. The first assignment given Constantius by Maximian Herculius was to remove Carausius, the usurper Augustus of secessionist Britain, and restore that former possession to the Empire. Constantius thereupon beseiged and captured Boulogne and then wrested coastal Gaul from Carausius. Constantius now set about planning the invasion, occupation and restoration of secessionist Britain to the Empire. One of the first orders of business for Constantius in 294 was to insure that a supply of reformed aes coinage (folles) - now the commonplace legal tender of the Roman Empire - was available for use not only by his occupying force, but also by the British civilian populace. To that end Constantius established a Mint in Gaul (exact location usually listed as unknown, although some French sources list it as Boulogne), manned by Lugdunese workers, to produce this invasion coinage - unmarked (i.e. without a mint mark) issued in the names of Diocletian & Maximian Herculius as Augusti and Constantius & Galerius Maximian as Caesars. Notes In his introductory notes to RIC VI, Londinium, Sutherland states that "Bastien is to be followed in regarding the umarked coins of Class I as an issue prepared in advance for Constantius' invasion of Britain in 296". Coin obverses depict right facing busts with bare neck truncation and laureate heads with the long laurel wreath ribbon laying on the neck. The Genius of the Roman People reverse depiction and inscription is standard with no mint mark. The inscriptional lettering is relatively large with delicate letterforms. Reverse axis is 6 or 12 o'clock. Weight range is 10.5 to 8.75 gm. I wish to thank my fellow "Romano-British coinage" enthusiast and noted numismatist, Lee Toone, for granting me permission to quote his contribution to this subject: "Bastien, in an annexe to a later work, Le Monnayage de L'Atelier de Lyons (Wetteren, 1980) - Annexe Atelier Continental Sans Marque, pp.125-128 and Plate LXIX, revisits this issue. He reaffirms his view that these coins were minted at an unknown continental mint prior to the invasion and concludes that, in reality, there are only four types RIC 14a, 14b, 17a and 17b. The others listed under Lyon by Sutherland are erroneous, either unofficial, lightly struck LA or LB coins or unmarked London coins. He goes on to catalogue these four types each with two different versions; the first 'set' with large heads ('effigies larges') and the second with small heads ('petites effigies') .........." Gallery of representative coins RIC Volume VI, Lugdunum, Group I, (iv), folles, Class I, No. 14-21, c. 296, 10.5-8.75 gm. No. 14a - Diocletian: IMP C DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG ..... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI No. 14b - Maximian Herculius: IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG ....... GENIO POP -- VLI ROMANI No. 17a - Constantius: FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C ...... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI No. 17b - Galerius Maximian: C VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB C ......... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI
What happened to RIC, Vol. VI, LONDINIUM Group I, (ii) Class I? It was transferred to RIC, Vol. VI, LUGDUNUM, as Group I, (iv), Class I (14a-21) -- the Invasion coinage of Bastien (prior to publication). Sutherland explains all this in his Introductory text to the LONDINIUM section of RIC VI, pages 113-115 (1967 Edition). The bottom line is the quote of Sutherland that ".......... Bastien is to be followed in regarding the unmarked coins of Class I as an issue prepared in advance for Constantius' invasion of Britain in 296."
Thanks for the fascinating thread @jamesicus I really enjoyed reading it. At this point, I don't have a single coin struck from the London mint, but hopefully that will change. I find it interesting that most mints issued coins in the names of all four tetrarchs. I guess this system broke down by the time Licinius and Constantine were squaring off against each other.
Thank you @ancient coin hunter Yes, that is so. Actually the Tetrarchic system pretty much disintegrated with the appointment of Licinius as Augustus by Galerius.
RIC Volume VI, LUGDUNUM Examples of early (294) folles (marked LA and LB) referred to by Sutherland in his introductory text to the Londinium and Lugdunum sections of RIC Volume VI. Diocletian, No. 3a IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI L A (exergue) Constantius, No. 6 CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI L B (exergue)
