Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 505 1 Dec 2021
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Diocletian. AD 284-305. Æ Sestertius (23mm, 5.40 g, 2h). Rome mint. Struck circa 285. IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / IOVI CONSER VAT AVGG, Jupiter standing facing, head left, holding thunderbolt and scepter. RIC V 202 var. (rev. legend; there described as a semis); Triton X, lot 752 (hammer $1700). Dark brown surfaces, rough and porous, deposits. Near VF. Very rare.
With his monetary reform in AD 274-275, Aurelian re-introduced the fully bronze denominations to the Roman trimetallic currency system. Two denominations were struck, a smaller piece of about 25 mm, about the same size and weight of the second century copper as, and a larger and heavier piece bearing a radiate portrait of the emperor, paired with a bust of his wife on a crescent. Although often catalogued as bronze asses and dupondii respectively, given the high inflation of the period, it is more now generally accepted they represent sesterii and double-sestertii. These bronzes would continue to be struck on and off for the next decade, with the latest appearing in the reign of Diocletian, around AD 285.
With his monetary reform in AD 274-275, Aurelian re-introduced the fully bronze denominations to the Roman trimetallic currency system. Two denominations were struck, a smaller piece of about 25 mm, about the same size and weight of the second century copper as, and a larger and heavier piece bearing a radiate portrait of the emperor, paired with a bust of his wife on a crescent. Although often catalogued as bronze asses and dupondii respectively, given the high inflation of the period, it is more now generally accepted they represent sesterii and double-sestertii. These bronzes would continue to be struck on and off for the next decade, with the latest appearing in the reign of Diocletian, around AD 285.