FORTVNAE REDVCI AVGG NN

[Adriaan78]

Dear all,

I was fortvneate to buy 2 more coins from this relatively scarce issue from Trier. I see them seldom come up for auction. The first one is RIC 415. The second one is not In RIC, but is a variation on RIC 389.

Kind regards,

[Victor]

Congrats on your new coins...they are tough to find. I forgot I had an example for Diocletian until your post.

Diocletian
A.D. 298- 299         
25x28mm    8.6g
IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right.             
FORTVNAE REDVCI AVGG NN; Fortuna seated left, holding rudder set on globe in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left; B in left, ✶in right.
In ex. TR
RIC VI Trier 230a

[Severus]

I have a couple of unlisted varieties from this issue as well...

First one is Galerius...
obv: MAXIMIANVS NOBIL CAES, laureate draped bust right, seen from rear
REV: FORTVNAE REDVCI AVGG NN, Fortuna seated l, right holding rudder over globe or wheel, left holding cornucopia; * in field, ATR in ex
RIC: unlisted for this bust type/legend combination, similar to RIC 391


Second is Constantius...
obv: CONSTANTIVS NOBIL C, Helmeted bust left, holding scepter over right shoulder and shield with left hand
rev: FORTUNAE REDVCI CAESS NN, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopia; * in field; ATR in ex
RIC: unlisted for this bust type/legend combination, similar to RIC 411 (unlisted officina, too)

[Heliodromus]

I recently made a spreadsheet of all these Trier FORTVNA REDVCI types ... quite a lot of them!

Aside from the rare "FORTVNA REDVCI AVGG ET CAESS" type (which I've never seen), I've recorded 112 issue/type emperor/bust/legend varieties of the AVGG/CAESS types, of which 30 are unlisted. I expect there's a good few more to be found too!

Consider that we've got two issues (TR, ATR), two reverse types (AVGG, CAESS) and four tetrarchs, one might expect a basic 2 x 2 x 4 = 16 varieties vs the current 112 ...

Of course the numbers come from bust varieties and obv legend varieties, mostly legends. Why just have PF AVG when you can also have every variety of PF (PIVS F, P FEL, etc) as well?! This seems to have been peak obverse legend insanity at Trier!

There were a few of these in the Rauceby hoard, including this rare one (RIC 250) with lionskin+club Herculean bust.



There was also this hybrid/error coin with CAESS legend but the seated design meant for the AVGG type.