GALERIUS, as Caesar
AD 293-305AE Follis. 10.24g, 27.3mm
MINTED: Heraclea mint, AD 297-298
REF: RIC VI Heraclea 20b
OBVERSE: GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES, laureate head right.
REVERSE: GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI, Genius standing left pouring libation from patera and holding cornucopiae; HTB in exergue.
Grade/Notes:
Choice Very Fine. Toned silvering in fields.Emperor Diocletian's major monetary reform led to the introduction of this large bronze coin as the primary denomination of daily commerce in the Roman Empire.
Historical Notes:
Galerius became emperor of the Roman Empire in 305 as the designated heir of Diocletian. However, under the system of the Tetrarchy, he had to share power with a co-emperor, Constantius I. He attempted to engineer his primacy by having two of his allies appointed to the positon of Caesar, but in doing so, he instead set the stage of the Tetrarchy's eventual collapse as other would-be successors rebelled against the hierarchy he established. He ruled for 6 years, before contracting a horrible bowel disease in 311 that resulted in him literally rotting to death from the inside.
