05/09/2026
Constantius I Chlorus (as Caesar, AD 293–305), AR Argenteus, Nicomedia mint, struck AD 295–296, 21mm, 3.34g, 12h, CONSTANTIVS CAESAR, laureate head right / PROVIDENTIA AVGG, four-turreted campgate with doors thrown open, five courses of masonry, pellets on turrets, star above gate; SMNΓ in exergue (officina 3, emission 1), RIC VI Nicomedia 24var; RSC 240†b; Sear RCV IV 14352; Cohen 240.
Ex Naumann E86 (20 February 2020), lot 542; ex Münzzentrum Rheinland 179 (11 January 2017), lot 542 (same reverse die, different obverse die); ex Harlan J. Berk 212th Buy or Bid Sale (August 2020), lot 358.
This coin belongs to the very first emission of the reformed argenteus series struck at Nicomedia in 295–296 AD as part of Diocletian’s landmark monetary reform, which reintroduced high-purity silver coinage across the empire. The iconic open-doors campgate with star above symbolises the restored security and providential foresight (Providentia) of the two Augusti, whose joint rule had pacified the frontiers. The nominative reverse legend PROVIDENTIA AVGG (rather than the standard dative PROVIDENTIAE AVGG) is a rare and apparently unpublished variant, known from only two specimens: the present coin and the example from the same reverse die sold in Münzzentrum Rheinland 179 (11 January 2017), lot 542. No further examples have appeared on the market since Harlan J. Berk’s 212th Buy or Bid Sale in August 2020. In practical terms, this is one of just two known examples worldwide, placing it in a high tier of rarity (R4-R5) for the type and rendering it significantly scarcer than even the already elusive standard dative version. These early Nicomedia argentei are among the most historically significant pieces of the Tetrarchy, representing the high point of the Diocletianic monetary restoration before later debasement and closed-gate types appeared.
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