Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3066 17 Aug 2018
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Ancients
Maximian, first reign (AD 286-305). AV aureus (19mm, 5.37 gm, 12h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, scratches. Nicomedia, ca. AD 294. MAXIMIA-NVS P F AVG, laureate head of Maximian right / HERCVLI-VICTORI, Hercules standing facing, head right, apples in leftt hand with lion-skin draped over arm, leaning on club grounded club in right; SMN in exergue. RIC VI 3. Calicó 4667a var. (Hercules without apples). Incredibly powerful and artistic style of Hercules on the reverse. Bright and flashy surfaces with some scattered very small deposits and light scratches in the fields.
Among the grand designs of Diocletian was an effort to restore the Roman religion to its former prominence. Toward this end, each of the ruling Tetrarchs was assigned to a "house" corresponding to the Roman deities Jupiter and Hercules, with Diocletian himself representing the former and his co-Augustus Maximian as the latter. Diocletian thus became the supreme ruler, while Maximian became his facilitator and "man of action." The obverse portrait of this astonishing aureus of Maximian, from the mint of Nicomedia, is in the later homogenous style typical of the Tetrarchic Era, while the reverse depicts Hercules with his signature acoutrements of lion-skin and club, but also holding the Apples of the Hesperides, the eleventh of his Twelve Labors.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD
Maximian, first reign (AD 286-305). AV aureus (19mm, 5.37 gm, 12h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, scratches. Nicomedia, ca. AD 294. MAXIMIA-NVS P F AVG, laureate head of Maximian right / HERCVLI-VICTORI, Hercules standing facing, head right, apples in leftt hand with lion-skin draped over arm, leaning on club grounded club in right; SMN in exergue. RIC VI 3. Calicó 4667a var. (Hercules without apples). Incredibly powerful and artistic style of Hercules on the reverse. Bright and flashy surfaces with some scattered very small deposits and light scratches in the fields.
Among the grand designs of Diocletian was an effort to restore the Roman religion to its former prominence. Toward this end, each of the ruling Tetrarchs was assigned to a "house" corresponding to the Roman deities Jupiter and Hercules, with Diocletian himself representing the former and his co-Augustus Maximian as the latter. Diocletian thus became the supreme ruler, while Maximian became his facilitator and "man of action." The obverse portrait of this astonishing aureus of Maximian, from the mint of Nicomedia, is in the later homogenous style typical of the Tetrarchic Era, while the reverse depicts Hercules with his signature acoutrements of lion-skin and club, but also holding the Apples of the Hesperides, the eleventh of his Twelve Labors.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD