Galerius: Bronze follis Coinage

Coinage Scope and Selected Issues

The Bronze follis coinage issued in the name of Galerius includes issues distinguished by their portraits, inscriptions, reverse designs and mint attribution. This study concentrates on the First Tetrarchy issues of Alexandria, rather than presenting one design as the entire denomination.

The issue dates and detailed iconographic descriptions below apply to the discussed groups, not automatically to every coin bearing the ruler's name. Other types and mints require their own catalogue comparison. An individual gallery coin must be assessed from its own inscriptions and institutional record; its measurements and provenance do not define the whole coinage.

Historical Context

During the First Tetrarchy (293-305 CE), the Roman Empire was administered under a collegiate system established by Diocletian. The realm was divided between two senior Augusti (Diocletian in the East and Maximian in the West) and two junior Caesares (Galerius along the Danube and Balkans, and Constantius Chlorus in Gaul and Britain). Around 294 CE, Diocletian initiated a sweeping currency reform designed to arrest decades of monetary debasement and restore administrative stability to base-metal transactions. The primary vehicle of this reform was a substantial, silver-washed bronze denomination known in modern numismatic scholarship as the follis, though contemporary administrative records designate it as the nummus.

The imperial mint at Alexandria held an exceptional position within this framework. For more than three centuries following the Roman annexation of Ptolemaic Egypt, the province had remained a closed monetary zone served by billon tetradrachms tariffed strictly for internal circulation. Although Diocletian began introducing standard imperial reform folles to Alexandria around 294-296 CE, production was abruptly halted by the insurrection of Lucius Domitius Domitianus (c. 296/297-298 CE). Domitianus seized the Alexandrian mint to strike his own autonomous billon and bronze issues. Following Diocletian's protracted eight-month siege and recapture of Alexandria in the spring of 298 CE, the traditional provincial billon coinage was abolished permanently. The mint was completely restructured along standardized imperial lines, striking uniform nummi bearing the same denominations, metal standards, and collegiate iconography as the rest of the empire.

Between 300 and 301 CE, Alexandria produced successive issues carrying the numerals XXI and XX-I in the fields. These emissions coincided closely with imperial economic legislation, notably the Currency Decree of Aphrodisias (September 301 CE) and the Edict on Maximum Prices (late 301 CE), which sought to reset the legal purchasing power and tariffing of circulating base-metal coinage throughout the Roman world.

Selected Issues: Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse presents the right-facing head of Galerius, crowned with a laurel wreath whose ties terminate neatly behind the nape of the neck. Departing from the individualized naturalism of early imperial portraiture, Tetrarchic numismatic art embraced an abstract, standardized aesthetic meant to express collegiate harmony (concordia augustorum) and shared imperial purpose.

Galerius is rendered with typical Tetrarchic physiognomy: a blocky, compact head, a broad jawline, closely cropped hair, an incised brow, and a short military beard depicted through tight stippling. The neck truncation is curved and relatively short, sitting clear of the peripheral inscription. The portrait deliberately mirrors the likenesses of Diocletian, Maximian, and Constantius, asserting the seamless unity and indivisible authority of the imperial college.

Selected Issues: Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse displays a continuous Latin inscription rendered in clear epigraphic capitals, running clockwise around the border from approximately seven o'clock to five o'clock.

• Script: Latin
• Language: Latin
• Original Lettering: GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES
• Transliteration: Gal[erius] Val[erius] Maximianus Nob[ilissimus] Caes[ar]
• English Translation: "Galerius Valerius Maximianus, most noble Caesar"

This titulature identifies Galerius during his tenure as junior ruler prior to the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian on 1 May 305 CE. Although Galerius shared the name Maximianus with the Western Augustus, the junior rank is explicitly established by the formula NOB CAES rather than an imperial Augustus title.

Selected Issues: Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse illustrates the central ideological motif of Diocletian's bronze reform: the Genius of the Roman People (Genius Populi Romani). The figure embodies the collective spirit, vitality, and enduring fortune of the Roman citizenry under collegiate imperial care.

Genius is depicted as a youthful, muscular male deity standing towards the left, rendered in classical contrapposto. He is nude except for a chlamys (military cloak) draped over his left shoulder and falling beside his torso. Atop his head rests a modius (grain measure), symbolizing imperial safeguarding of the grain supply (annona) and agricultural prosperity. In his extended right hand, Genius holds a shallow patera (libation dish) over the ground, signifying religious piety and imperial sacrifice. Supported along his left arm is a cornucopia filled with fruits, reinforcing the theme of peace and material abundance secured by Tetrarchic rule.

Selected Issues: Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse features a dedication to the tutelary divinity of Rome, framed by an encircling Latin legend, internal workshop marks, and an exergual mintmark.

• Script: Latin (legend, value marks, exergue); Greek (officina letter)
• Language: Latin; mixed numeral systems (Roman and Greek)
• Original Lettering: GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI
• Transliteration: Genio Populi Romani
• English Translation: "To the Genius of the Roman people"
• Breakdown: The legend begins at lower left (~7:00), breaks across the upper field above the head of Genius as POPV-L-I, and finishes at lower right (~5:00).
• Field Marks (c. 301 CE emission):
  • Left field: XX (Roman numeral 20)
  • Right field: Workshop letter (A, B, Γ, Δ, or Є) placed directly above I (Roman numeral 1)
  • Exergue: ALE (abbreviation for Alexandria), beneath a distinct ground line

In this field arrangement, the Greek letter identifies the striking officina (for example, Γ indicates the third workshop), while the surrounding Roman numerals XX and I form the value or alloy mark.

Typology and Documented Variants

The reformed folles of the First Tetrarchy struck at Alexandria with the GENIO POPVLI ROMANI reverse are categorized into five successive chronological groups based on field markings and workshop formatting:

Chronological Sub-Series (c. 294-305 CE)

1. Group I (c. 294-296 CE): Plain left field; right field contains officina letter (A-Є); exergue ALE. Documented for Diocletian (RIC 14a), Maximian (RIC 14b), Constantius Caesar (RIC 15a), and Galerius Caesar (RIC 15b). Interrupted by the usurpation of Domitius Domitianus.
2. Group II (c. 300 CE): Left field XXI; right field contains officina letter (A-Є); exergue ALE. Struck for Diocletian (RIC 30a), Maximian (RIC 30b), Constantius Caesar (RIC 31a), and Galerius Caesar (RIC 31b).
3. Group III (c. 301 CE): Left field XX; right field contains officina letter over I (A/I through Є/I); exergue ALE. Struck for Diocletian (RIC 32a), Maximian (RIC 32b), Constantius Caesar (RIC 33a), and Galerius Caesar (RIC 33b).
4. Group IV (c. 302-303 CE): Left field S; right field contains officina letter over P (A/P through Є/P); exergue ALE. Struck for Diocletian (RIC 34a), Maximian (RIC 34b), Constantius Caesar (RIC 35a), and Galerius Caesar (RIC 35b).
5. Group V (c. 303-304/305 CE): Left field wreath over S; right field contains officina letter over P (A/P through Є/P); exergue ALE. Struck for Diocletian (RIC 36a), Maximian (RIC 36b), Constantius Caesar (RIC 37a), and Galerius Caesar (RIC 37b).

Throughout the entire First Tetrarchy, the Alexandrian mint operated strictly five officinae, numbered using Greek numerals: A (1st), B (2nd), Γ (3rd), Δ (4th), and Є (5th). A sixth workshop (ϛ or S) was not introduced until late 308 CE under Maximinus Daia.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Nomenclature and Augustus vs. Caesar Titulature

Because both the Western Augustus Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus) and Galerius (Galerius Valerius Maximianus) shared the gentilicium and cognomen Maximianus, attribution on worn or fragmentary specimens requires careful inspection. Prior to May 305 CE, Galerius is distinguished by his junior titles (NOB CAES) and the absence of imperial prefixes such as IMP C. Following his elevation to Augustus on 1 May 305 CE, Galerius assumed the title IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG. Worn coins lacking legible prefixes or suffixes can be difficult to separate from senior Augustan issues, requiring comparison of portrait traits, module diameters, and mintmark chronology.

The Interpretation of the XXI and XX-I Marks

The occurrence of XXI (Group II) and split XX - I (Group III) at Alexandria represents an unusual survival of an earlier third-century formula on post-reform Tetrarchic bronze. Modern numismatists remain divided on the administrative and economic meaning of this mark:

• Metallurgical Alloy Theory: C. H. V. Sutherland argued that XXI retained its traditional Aurelianic meaning: a guarantee of metal composition designating 20 parts copper alloy to 1 part silver (yielding an intentional silver wash or alloy content of roughly 4.76% to 5%). In this reading, splitting the mark into XX and I across the reverse field was an epigraphic variation maintaining the same alloy standard.
• Tariff and Accounting Theory: Michael F. Hendy and subsequent monetary historians posited that the marks reflect nominal accounting values tied directly to currency retariffing. Under this hypothesis, the numerals indicate a face value in sestertii or denarii communes, coinciding with the Currency Decree of Aphrodisias (September 301 CE), which doubled the nominal values of circulating denominations to counteract runaway inflation.

Because Alexandria was among the few imperial mints to prominently broadcast the formula on reformed folles, numismatists continue to debate whether the mark was intended as a technical metallurgical control or a public statement of legal tender value.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume VI: From Diocletian's Reform (A.D. 294) to the Death of Maximinus (A.D. 313). pp. 88-92, 646-651, 664-666, 678
2. The Art Institute of Chicago: Follis (Coin) Portraying Emperor Galerius. Artwork 141815 (Accession 1920.983)
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC VI Alexandria 33b. ric.6.alex.33b
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC VI Alexandria 31b. ric.6.alex.31b
5. Universität zu Köln Digitales Münzkabinett (NUMiD): Maximianus Augustus (ID1079). ID1079 (RIC VI Alexandria 32b)
6. Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300-1450. pp. 449-455
7. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume IV: The Tetrarchies and the Rise of the House of Constantine (AD 284-337). pp. 309, 395, 404
8. Metallurgy in Numismatics, Vol. 1: The Value of the Systematic Analysis of Roman Bronze Coins of the Period A.D. 294-310. Clearly labelled further reading: pp. 127-144