The Gallic Empire refers to a breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned de facto as a separate state from 260 to 274 during the Third Century Crisis. Starting in 260 CE, a series of Roman military leaders declared themselves emperors and ruled in Gaul, Britain and adjacent provinces without laying claim to the rest of the Roman Empire ruled from Italy. This breakaway from the main Empire was retaken by Roman emperor Aurelian in 274, marking the end of the Gallic Augustii.

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The Gallic Empire was crushed by Aurelian in 274, but only 13 years later in 286, Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius, the commander of the Classis Britannica fleet, usurped power in what became known as the Carausian Revolt. Carausius declared himself emperor of the Imperium Britanniarum in Britain and northern Gaul and held power for seven years as Emperor of the North before being assassinated by his finance minister Allectus, who then became an usurper Emperor. In 296, Constantius I's forces defeated Allectus in Britain, re-uniting Britain and Gaul with the rest of the Empire.

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Most numismatists agree that "Byzantine" coinage starts in 498 CE with the monetary reform of Anastasius. He reformed the Roman Empire's coinage system based around the gold solidus, with bronze nummi in various denominations being used for lower value transactions. The gold solidus (or later nomisma) remained the standard until the 11th century, when it began to be debased under successive emperors beginning in the 1030s under the emperor Romanos Argyros (1028–1034). Until that time, the fineness of the gold remained consistent at about 95% pure or higher.

Michael IV the Paphlagonian (1034–41) ascended as Byzantine emperor in 1034 and began the process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma (weighing 11/12 of a histamenon nomista) and the full-weight histamenon nomisma. The debasement reached about 21 carats (87.5% pure) during the reign of Constantine IX (1042–1055), 18 carats (75%) under Constantine X (1059–1067), 16 carats (66.7%) under Romanus IV (1068–1071), 14 carats (58%) under Michael VII (1071–1078), 8 carats (33%) under Nicephorus III (1078–1081) and 0 to 8 carats during the first eleven years of the reign of Alexius I (1081–1118).

In 1092, Alexius I Comnenus discontinued the debased solidus (tetarteron and histamenon) and re-introduced a gold coin of higher fineness called the hyperpyron, but in 1367, the Byzantine Empire stopped producing gold coins altogether.

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This is my gallery of the denarii and anyoninianii of the Severan-era emperors from Clodius Albinus in 193 CE onward through to Severus Alexander in 235 CE, but with the exception of Septimius Severus, to whom I've dedicated his own album. This includes Macrinus and Diadumenian who briefly usurped the throne during the Severan dynastic period. While my primary collecting focus is Septimius Severus, I have nevertheless procured at least one Denarius or antoninianus example from each contemporary emperor, along with all the women of the era represented on denarii, though the women are in a separate album.

13 files, last one added on Dec 29, 2022
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This is my gallery of Denarii and Antoninianii bearing the obverse portrait of Severan era women of power, including the emperor's wives, mothers and grandmothers. In some cases, these women were the real power of Rome, particularly when their sons and grandsons ascended the throne at tender ages.

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This is a holding area for coins being posted about in the fakes section of the discussion forum.

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An album of miscellaneous Late Roman Bronzes. This is not a primary area of focus for me, and just includes a few coins I like, in some cases obtained from uncleaned lots. It will evolve and be better catalogued as I get caught up on posting denarii.

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These are miscellaneous photos related to my coin collecting hobby, including things like photography and microscope setups.

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My gallery of the denarii of Septimius Severus from 193 CE through to his death in 211 CE. This represents my main area of collecting interest for ancient coins, as I'm fascinated with Septimius' unprecedented success in reversing the empire's misfortunes since the death of Marcus Aurelius. The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent under his reign - over 5 million square kilometers.

Severus was also distinguished for his buildings. Apart from the triumphal arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built the Septizodium in Rome. He enriched his native city of Leptis Magna, including commissioning a triumphal arch on the occasion of his visit of 203.

NOTE: Click on "Position +" to sort this gallery by RIC number.

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Severus Alexander was assassinated on 22 March 235 CE, marking the end of the short-lived Severan Dynasty established in 193 CE. This event marked the generally accepted beginning of a period of instability known to scholars as "The Crisis of the Third Century", but also known as Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (235–284 AD). During this period, the Roman Empire retreated from its zenith to nearly collapsing under the combined pressures of barbarian invasions, civil wars, political instability and myriad other factors.

This gallery looks at the silver & billon coins of this tumultuous era.

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The Kingdom of Cappadocia was a Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom in Asia Minor, roughly in the location of present-day Turkey. When Alexander of Macedon (Alexander the Great) invaded Cappadocia as part of his conquest of the Persian Empire, he appointed 2 governors. Unlike most Persian regions of Alexander's empire, Cappadocia declared independence in 331 and Ariarathes I assumed power, becoming the first king of the newly established Kingdom of Cappadocia.

Throughout its history, it was ruled by three families in succession; the House of Ariarathes (331–96 BC), the House of Ariobarzanes (96–36 BC), and lastly that of Archelaus (36 BC–17 AD). In 17 AD, following the death of Archelaus and during the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD), the kingdom was incorporated as a fully functioning Roman province.

18 files, last one added on Mar 10, 2023
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