Category Archives: Galerius

Offered are two coins, of Galerius and Maximinus II. After the death of Constantius I, father of who was to become Constantine I, the tetrarchy went to heck with all sorts of competing personalities, with even Maximianus coming out of “retirement.” Diocletian finally called them all together but the solution suited nobody, and civil war became the state of affairs for years. These coins of Galerius and Maximinus II belong together because they became Augustus and Caesar, respectively, of the Eastern empire after the abdications of Diocletian and Maximianus. Then Constantius I died, and……

Top Coin: Galerius Follis, Caesar under Diocletian AD 293-305, Augustus (of the East) AD 305-311, S 3708 (var.), 26 mm, 10.06 gms, Obverse: laureate bust of Galerius facing right, GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES, Reverse: Genius standing left, holding a patera and a cornucopia, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, lovely and sharp coin with attractive light golden brown patina, wonderful and sharp portrait of Galerius in high relief, detailed reverse, full and clear legends on both sides. Graded About EF by the numismatist/dealer from whom I purchased the coin. Galerius died in AD 311, and mostly likely very frustrated. The illness which laid him in his grave may have been a blessing because he spent much of his time as Caesar trying to defeat the Persians and placating Diocletian. Then as Augustus, he tried to hold the empire together by diplomacy and arms, neither of which worked. He was competing against too many personalities: Maximianus and his son Maxentius, Constantine (who’d been elevated by his troops after his father’s death), and even Maximinus II, his own Caesar, whose coin follows.

Bottom Coin: Maximinus II Follis, Caesar under Galerius AD 305-308, Filius Augustorum AD 308-309, Augustus AD 309-313, Van Meter 12, 25 mm, 6.6 gms, Obverse: laureate bust of Maximinus II facing right, GAL VAL MAXIMINVS NOB CAES, Reverse: Genius standing left, holding a patera and a cornucopia, GENIO CAESARIS CHM, SMNB in exergue, very attractive coin with very light chocolate brown patina with an overall greenish tint (if that makes any sense! It’s a very attractive patina!), small spots of green are stable (and have been for years) and are very difficult to see even in bright light in hand though they are no detraction at all anyway. They are built right in to the patina and are attractive to me. Full and clear legends on both sides of the coin. Maximinus II was as frustrated as Galerius, it seems. To placate him and Constantine, Galerius elevated them both to a new title just for them: Filius Augustorum. Upon Galerius’s death, Maximinus declared himself senior Augustus, but then, condensing things here, he found himself confronting an alliance of Constantine (who’d disposed of Maxentius in Rome) and Licinius, who’d been declared Augustus of the West by Galerius after Diocletian’s big conference in AD 308. Maximinus’s forces were defeated by Licinius, and Maximinus ended his own life when he saw all had come to naught. What a mess. And then, of course, Constantine and Licinius went at it tooth and claw, but that’s another twisted chain of events. A beautiful coin, and Maximinus has lived on through it.

Asking price for both coins:  $138 includes priority shipping and insurance