Heritage World Coin Auctions
CICF Signature Sale 3032 10-12 April 2014
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Maximian, first reign (AD 286-305). AV aureus (21mm, 5.30 gm, 1h). Cyzicus, AD 286-287. IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximian right / CONCOR-DIAE MILITVM, Concordia standing facing, head left, grasping a military signum in each hand, S C * in exergue. RIC 603. Depeyrot 6/1 and pl. 19. Cohen 60. Calicó 4610. A nearly perfect coin, with full, blazing luster and needle-sharp detail. NGC (photo-certificate) MS★ 5/5 - 4/5.From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Private purchase from Spink, early 1990s. Like Diocletian, Maximian was of hardy Illyrian peasant stock and rose through the ranks of the Roman Army during the war-torn later third century. Once Diocletian was installed as emperor, he almost immediately offered to share power with his old friend, whom he seems to have trusted implicitly. Though far less of a thinker than Diocletian, Maximian was a better soldier, a fact Diocletian understood and even appreciated. Maximian thus became Hercules to Diocletian's Jupiter, the man of action following the lead of a great planner and organizer. The partnership worked remarkably well, and in AD 293 the Dyarchy was expanded to a Tetrarchy with the addition of two subordinate rulers, the Caesars Constantius I and Galerius. After decades of chaos and dissolution, the fortunes of the Roman Empire rose again under the unusual arrangement. The Tetrarchs regularized the empire's finances, restored its frontiers, rebuilt its cities, and won signal victories against enemies without and within. Some, however, complained about the regimentation of Roman society and the heavy burden of taxation. In AD 305, after 20 exhausting years of rule, the weary Diocletian declared his job finished and formally abdicated. Maximian, perhaps five years younger and more in love with power, reluctantly followed suit.
Estimate: 10000-13000 USD
Maximian, first reign (AD 286-305). AV aureus (21mm, 5.30 gm, 1h). Cyzicus, AD 286-287. IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximian right / CONCOR-DIAE MILITVM, Concordia standing facing, head left, grasping a military signum in each hand, S C * in exergue. RIC 603. Depeyrot 6/1 and pl. 19. Cohen 60. Calicó 4610. A nearly perfect coin, with full, blazing luster and needle-sharp detail. NGC (photo-certificate) MS★ 5/5 - 4/5.From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Private purchase from Spink, early 1990s. Like Diocletian, Maximian was of hardy Illyrian peasant stock and rose through the ranks of the Roman Army during the war-torn later third century. Once Diocletian was installed as emperor, he almost immediately offered to share power with his old friend, whom he seems to have trusted implicitly. Though far less of a thinker than Diocletian, Maximian was a better soldier, a fact Diocletian understood and even appreciated. Maximian thus became Hercules to Diocletian's Jupiter, the man of action following the lead of a great planner and organizer. The partnership worked remarkably well, and in AD 293 the Dyarchy was expanded to a Tetrarchy with the addition of two subordinate rulers, the Caesars Constantius I and Galerius. After decades of chaos and dissolution, the fortunes of the Roman Empire rose again under the unusual arrangement. The Tetrarchs regularized the empire's finances, restored its frontiers, rebuilt its cities, and won signal victories against enemies without and within. Some, however, complained about the regimentation of Roman society and the heavy burden of taxation. In AD 305, after 20 exhausting years of rule, the weary Diocletian declared his job finished and formally abdicated. Maximian, perhaps five years younger and more in love with power, reluctantly followed suit.
Estimate: 10000-13000 USD