Freeman & Sear - Gemini I, Session 2



      ancient classic artifacts coins numismatic roman greek 



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                        Lot: 443

                        (click on image to enlarge)
                        ROMAN EMPIRE: Diocletian. AD 284-305. Ceremonial AV 
                        aureus (6.33 gm).

                        ROMAN EMPIRE. Diocletian (AD 284-305). Ceremonial gold 
                        aureus struck at 50 to a pound (6.33 gm). Antioch, AD 
                        287. IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, laureate bust 
                        left, wearing consular robes and holding eagle-tipped 
                        scepter in right hand, which is depicted / IOVI 
                        CONSERVATORI AVGG, emperor, laureate and in military 
                        dress, standing right, receiving Victory on globe from 
                        Jupiter standing left; Jupiter is nude apart from cloak 
                        around shoulders; both figures also carry scepters; SMA 
                        in exergue, value mark N (= 50) in field. RIC -. C -. 
                        Lukanc, Diokletianus, p. 152, 5 (Dumbarton Oaks, same 
                        reverse die). Depeyrot p. 138, 4 (Dumbarton Oaks). 
                        Extremely rare: only the second known gold coin of 
                        Diocletian with N in reverse field, and the first to 
                        demonstrate that the N must be a value mark meaning "50 
                        to the pound." Virtually mint state 

                        Ex Berk Buy or Bid Sale 96, 1997, lot 14. 

                        All normal gold coins of Diocletian at the Antioch mint, 
                        from his accession until a stylistic reform of the 
                        coinage ca. 291, bore Greek numerals designating their 
                        weight, first O = 70 to a pound (ca. 4.6 gm), then later 
                        X = 60 to a pound (ca. 5.3 gm). Since our coin is in the 
                        same early style, its N in the field must be taken to 
                        mean "50 to a pound" (ca. 6.4 gm), and its weight of 
                        6.33 gm confirms this interpretation. Otto Seeck and 
                        Karl Pink are shown to have been right when they 
                        conjectured that the standard of 50 to a pound might 
                        have been used for certain Tetrarchic heavy aurei and 
                        gold medallions: see Pink's "Die Goldprägung des 
                        Diocletianus und seiner Mitregenten," NZ 64 (1931), pp. 
                        57-58. The Dumbarton Oaks specimen of our coin weighs 
                        6.76 gm with an attached suspension loop, and it was 
                        probably only the unknown exact original weight of this 
                        specimen which prevented Sutherland from discerning the 
                        correct meaning of the N in field when he published that 
                        specimen for the first time in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18 
                        (1964), p. 166. For the date of issue, see the 
                        commentary on lot 451 below. 
                        Estimated Value: $ 16,000 




...Sold for $16,500 USD [ approx 12540 EUR, 8745 GBP ] plus 15% buyers fee. 

Gemini I Auction Closed Jan 11-12, 2005. 

Re-used by permission of Freeman & Sear (www.freemanandsear.com) 
                      and Harlan J Berk (www.harlanjberk.com).