Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
AR19 - Diocletian L Γ
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 294-295 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Billon |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Galerius as Caesar facing right, rendered in three-quarter view from the front. The emperor is depicted wearing a radiate or laureate crown, with paludamentum fastened at the shoulder and segmented cuirass visible at the breast. The encircling Greek legend reads ΓΑΛ ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟϹ Κ, identifying the subject as Galerius Maximianus Caesar. The flan is irregularly shaped, as is typical of Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of the Tetrarchic period. The portrait style reflects the official imperial workshop conventions of the late third century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΓΑΛ ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟϹ Κ |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Year three of Diocletian's reign in Egyptian reckoning corresponds to the period immediately following his Currency Reform of 296 AD — though this piece predates it. The reform would shortly render these billon tetradrachms obsolete, replacing the old Alexandrian coinage system with standardized imperial denominations. Egypt had maintained its own closed currency system since the Ptolemies, and Diocletian's decision to abolish it after roughly five centuries was administratively deliberate: it forced the province into the same monetary framework as the rest of the empire, eliminating a longstanding tool of fiscal autonomy.