First Tetrachy nummus white whale

[thejewk]

I'm putting together a set of unreduced nummi of the First Tetrarchy, one from each mint, but I've only managed a couple of coins this year. The first, a very nice Galerius as Caesar from Cyzicus with the reverse legend unique to that particular mint:

 

RIC VI 9b/11b (Cyzicus)

GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES

GENIO AVGG ET - CAESARVM NN 

-/-/KA

9.5g, 28mm

I find the issue of separating RIC 9b from 11b slightly perplexing, and any input from my more experienced collectors would be appreciated.

 

The more exciting find was this mis-labled coin which arrived today:

 

RIC VI 18b (Alexandria)

IMP C MA MAXIMIANVS PF AVG

GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI

Eagle/Gamma/ALE

10.49g, 25.5mm

This is the type minted under Domitius Domitianus, and while I had no expectations of being able to get a coin of the usurper himself on my budget, I had very little hope of getting one of the Tetrarchs either.  This was advertised as a second reign Maximianus, presumably due to the dumpy flan.  It is in wonderful condition and is even better in the hand than my poor pictures show, and is a good very fine at least, with a super clean strike and good condition dies.  I couldn't be happier with it.

This leaves me at just over the half way point in my little project, if we include the 'invasion coins' of Lugdunese style and a London mint style imitation as 'mints', with 9 coins acquired and 8 mints to go.  My next major target is an early Diocletian from Nicomedia with a big ole bull necked portrait, but they appear to be surprisingly uncommon, even if they don't fetch particularly large prices.  I also have the small problem that 4 or 5 of the coins are of Maximian, and I wish to have a little more balance, so Constantius and Diocletian are both priorities. 

[ominus1]

...great coins and a worthy goal!...:)

[Curtisimo]

Wonderful addition @thejewk. The coins struck under Domitianus are super cool and often unrecognized at auction. I look forward to seeing your full set when you finish it. 🙂 

Roman Empire
Struck by the Usurper Domitius Domitianus in the name of Maximianus
AE follis/nummus, Alexandria mint, struck ca. AD 296/7
Dia: 26.2 mm
Wt: 10.0 g
Obv: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; Laureate bust right.
Rev: GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI; Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia; eagle at feet to left
Ref: RIC 18b
Ex Severus Alexander Collection; 2022 Saturnalia gift.

Mine has the added benefit of coming from my good friend @Severus Alexander as part of a Saturnalia gift exchange!

A Fun Gift Exchange Between Friends (Very Late Saturnalia!)

[thejewk]

Thanks @ominus1 and @Curtisimo.

I saw that Saturnalia thread Curtisimo and admired both sides of the exchange!  Interesting to see that your coin is also relatively short in diameter compared to other contemporaneous issues, but also on the heavier side.  Presumably the flans were quite dumpy in general.

[hotwheelsearl]

Dumb question but how do you tell if it was struck by Domitius?

[thejewk]

29 minutes ago, hotwheelsearl said:

Dumb question but how do you tell if it was struck by Domitius?

Not dumb at all.  We know because this series of coins with these mint marks also contains a type featuring Domitius's name and portrait, with the same style.

Take a look here for a few examples: https://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?search=Domitius+Domitianus

[Al Kowsky]

4 hours ago, thejewk said:

I'm putting together a set of unreduced nummi of the First Tetrarchy, one from each mint, but I've only managed a couple of coins this year. The first, a very nice Galerius as Caesar from Cyzicus with the reverse legend unique to that particular mint:

 

RIC VI 9b/11b (Cyzicus)

GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES

GENIO AVGG ET - CAESARVM NN 

-/-/KA

9.5g, 28mm

I find the issue of separating RIC 9b from 11b slightly perplexing, and any input from my more experienced collectors would be appreciated.

 

The more exciting find was this mis-labled coin which arrived today:

 

RIC VI 18b (Alexandria)

IMP C MA MAXIMIANVS PF AVG

GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI

Eagle/Gamma/ALE

10.49g, 25.5mm

This is the type minted under Domitius Domitianus, and while I had no expectations of being able to get a coin of the usurper himself on my budget, I had very little hope of getting one of the Tetrarchs either.  This was advertised as a second reign Maximianus, presumably due to the dumpy flan.  It is in wonderful condition and is even better in the hand than my poor pictures show, and is a good very fine at least, with a super clean strike and good condition dies.  I couldn't be happier with it.

This leaves me at just over the half way point in my little project, if we include the 'invasion coins' of Lugdunese style and a London mint style imitation as 'mints', with 9 coins acquired and 8 mints to go.  My next major target is an early Diocletian from Nicomedia with a big ole bull necked portrait, but they appear to be surprisingly uncommon, even if they don't fetch particularly large prices.  I also have the small problem that 4 or 5 of the coins are of Maximian, and I wish to have a little more balance, so Constantius and Diocletian are both priorities. 

thejewk, Are you sure your coin isn't Maximinus II 🤔? Please compare your coin with one from my collection pictured below.

[thejewk]

23 minutes ago, Al Kowsky said:

thejewk, Are you sure your coin isn't Maximinus II 🤔? Please compare your coin with one from my collection pictured below.

Definitely Galerius, you can see the A in MAXIMIANVS in the legend.

Your Maximinus coin there is quite rare I believe Al, if memory serves. 

[Al Kowsky]

25 minutes ago, thejewk said:

Definitely Galerius, you can see the A in MAXIMIANVS in the legend.

Your Maximinus coin there is quite rare I believe Al, if memory serves. 

Thanks for pointing that out 😉, comparing them together the difference is obvious.

[Severus Alexander]

Wow, that Maximian struck under DD is the best I've seen!  Congrats!!  I especially love the nice plump eagle. 😄 (That style eagle seems to correlate with officina gamma.)

Here's my set (except for DD himself!):

[thejewk]

@Severus Alexander That Constantius is wonderful, a truly special coin.  The portrait is perfect.

Edit: If you have the time and energy, is there a possibility that you could let me know the diameters of your set SA?

Edited October 12, 2023 by thejewk

[John Conduitt]

On 10/11/2023 at 4:06 PM, thejewk said:

I find the issue of separating RIC 9b from 11b slightly perplexing, and any input from my more experienced collectors would be appreciated.

I believe this is the 'small head' vs 'large head' distinction that Ocre never mentions (not just for Cyzicus), but which apparently always gives the coins different dates. RIC 9b is the small head, and I think the examples you get on the search page of Ocre are correct, although not all the examples on the pages seem to be. I think these are also correct examples of RIC 9b and RIC 11b. But according to Ocre, it only matters if you have officina A, since RIC 9b is officinas A and Γ, while RIC 11b is officinas A, B and Δ. There's also RIC 7b with mintmark KV. I think yours is 9b.