Ancient Rome Maximian Herculius Follis 285AD to 310AD

After Diocletian made Maximian his co-emperor, granting him military control of the eastern part of the empire, his full name became Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius Augustus. He is commonly referred to as Maximian Herculius, or simply Maximian, to distinguish him from the deputy emperor Galerius Maximianus.

These medium-sized coins are known as folles (singular: follis) and come either in a coppery or silvery color. They are made mostly of bronze, but coated in a thin layer of silvering. Well preserved coins still show this layer of silvering, and are seen as very desirable by collectors.

worn: $20 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $35
well preserved: $125

With these ancient coins, each one stands on its own merits. A coin with strong inscriptions, a beautiful portrait, a legible mint mark, and a nice coating of silver would be worth much more than a coin with worn-down letters, a humanoid blob for a portrait, and an ugly orange color of harshly cleaned copper.

The example in our picture comes from Numismatica Ars Classica in London where it sold in a 2014 auction for 160 Swiss francs, about $168 US dollars.

Requester Keady: We have identified your coin based on your report of the legend as containing an A right before 'MAXIMIAN...'. This would indicate a full obverse legend of 'IMP C MA MAXIMIANVS PF AVG'. If we have incorrectly identified your coin, you are welcome to use the Contact link found on the Main page of CoinQuest to initiate email contact with us, so that we can nail it down more accurately.
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