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Antoninianus - Diocletianus IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG
| Issuer | Imperial Roman Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 285-290 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Diocletian facing right, rendered in the standard late Roman imperial style. The effigy displays the characteristic radiate crown of the antoninianus denomination, with short beard and strong facial features typical of Tetrarchic portraiture. The emperor's paludamentum (military cloak) is fastened at the right shoulder, with scale armour visible beneath. The encircling Latin legend reads IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, running clockwise within a beaded border. |
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| Obverse lettering | IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG (Translation: Imperator, Caesar, Caius Valerius Diocletianus Pius Felix Augustus. Supreme commander (Imperator), Caesar, Gaius Valerius Diocletian, the pious, the fortunate, emperor (Augustus).) |
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| Additional information |
Diocletian's early antoniniani, struck before the Tetrarchic reforms reshaped both coinage and administration, were issued at a moment when the empire was still being consolidated under single rule. The IOVI CONSERVATORI legend was a deliberate theological statement — Jupiter the Protector underpinned Diocletian's claim to divine sanction at a time when military usurpers had been toppling emperors with alarming regularity for decades.
The billon content of these early issues was already badly debased from the antoninianus's original silver standard. Diocletian's later currency reform of 294 would attempt to address this, introducing the argenteus and restructuring the numismatic hierarchy entirely.