CONSTANTIVS I 213a LUGDUNUM

[Adriaan78]

Dear all,

I am big fan of large follis from Trier and Lugdunum. I have this nice but common GENIO POPVLI ROMAN follis in my collection (picture 1). I was wondering if the reverse legend reads: CAES or CAE. It is a nice coin with almost no wear and almost full silvering. I do not see any obvious hints of a S in the spot where it should be (picture 2 and 3). Also comparing it to another example in my collection (picture 4) makes me think it is CAE. RIC VI does not list the CAE variant. However, Zschucke notes the existence of the CAE variant (picture 5, (t)). It is also known for Galerius in the same series (Emission 2 295 AD). I would like to hear your opinion!

Best,
Adriaan

[Victor]

I think it is probably a clogged die, especially since there is room for CAES

[Heliodromus]

I agree - it's not a normal abbreviation, and also rare to see space left at the end of the legend. Typically if they misjudged the spacing for first half of legend, you'll see the second half spread out so that all space is used up rather than leaving a gap.

The only place I can recall "CAE" being used deliberately is early Rome mint for Magnentius where instead of the legend starting with "IMP C" they used "IMP CAE" or sometimes "IM CAE", but this was systematic and presumably the result of them realizing ahead of time that a longer legend would be difficult to fit.