Imperial landmarks
Thirty-nine reigns, usurpers and co-emperors included. A few weeks in power sometimes leave more behind than a long reign: those summer reigns are the ones that survive today in a handful of specimens.
A military dynasty born of civil war. The denarius loses half its silver, and Caracalla creates the antoninianus.
Eighty-seven days in power. His whole coinage is rare, the aurei exceptional.
Two months, after buying the throne from the praetorians. Very rare denarii.
The fineness of the denarius falls to around 50 per cent. Plentiful and inexpensive coinage, except from the eastern mints.
Introduces the antoninianus in 215: radiate bust, two denarii for one and a half times the weight. The first open debasement.
Co-emperor murdered by his brother, then struck by damnatio memoriae. Adolescent portraits, priced above contemporary Caracallas.
A praetorian prefect raised by the army. Fourteen months, limited coinage, often alongside his son Diadumenian.
Priestly reverses tied to the solar cult of Emesa, distinctive and much in demand despite a four-year reign.
A long reign, with massive and affordable coinage. The last great cycle of sestertii before the crisis.
Emperors made and unmade by the legions, secessions in Gaul and Palmyra, the collapse and then the reform of the silver coinage.
The first emperor risen from the ranks. Sestertii with a hard, highly characteristic portrait.
Twenty days of African rule. Among the rarest imperial coinages of the period.
Three months of joint rule imposed by the senate. Rare denarii and sestertii, with senatorial portraits.
The most accessible coinage of the third century. Sestertii still well struck, on broad flans.
The millennial issues of 248: an animal series, the most collected of the period.
The series of deified emperors was struck in his name. Died campaigning against the Goths.
Antoniniani of irregular weight, often struck at Antioch. Plague and invasion.
Three months in power. Coinage from the Rome mint alone, and very rare.
Captured by the Persians at Edessa. Plentiful antoniniani, silver already much impoverished.
Monetary collapse: silver falls below 5 per cent. The series of protecting gods is abundant.
A Gallic usurper whose well-made coinage was struck at Cologne and Trier. Characteristic double sestertii.
The third Gallic emperor, murdered at Cologne. Plentiful antoniniani, often with traces of silvering.
The last Gallic emperor, who surrendered to Aurelian at Châlons. Prolific coinage from Cologne and Trier, and many contemporary imitations.
Caesar alongside his father Tetricus I. Antoniniani of reduced module from Cologne, at the end of the Gallic Empire.
Very common billon antoniniani, including the consecration issues struck after his death.
Brother of Claudius II, a few weeks in power. Rare coinage, mostly from Milan.
The reform of 274: a silvered flan marked XXI. He reconquered the empire, hence the legend RESTITVTOR ORBIS.
Six months in power. Good-quality aureliani from the mints of Lyon, Rome and Ticinum.
Eighty days. Brother of Tacitus, with a short and rare coinage.
A great variety of busts and mint marks. A field for collecting by officina rather than by type.
A reign of one year, ending in Persia. Aureliani struck in most of the western mints.
Sons of Carus, with brief and competing reigns. Scarce coinage, often poorly struck.
Diocletian divides the empire between two Augusti and two Caesars, restores fine silver and reorganises the mints from London to Antioch.
The reform of 294: fine silver returns. The argenteus, struck for only a few years, remains rare.
Nummi from the western mints, often with traces of original silvering. Reverse GENIO POPVLI ROMANI.
Caesar then Augustus of the West, father of Constantine. Nummi from Trier and London.
Large-module nummi from the Danubian mints. A persecutor, then author of the edict of toleration of 311.
Twenty years of civil war before sole rule. The solidus takes hold for seven centuries and the capital moves east.
One year amid the tetrarchic civil war. Rare nummi, mostly from Aquileia and Rome.
Master of Rome, defeated at the Milvian Bridge. Nummi with the temple of Roma, instantly recognisable.
The last eastern tetrarch. Nummi from Antioch and Nicomedia, of declining module.
Colleague then rival of Constantine for sixteen years. Plentiful nummi, often of small module after 318.
Creates the solidus in 310, a money of account for seven centuries. Abundant late nummi, of widely varying module.