Tres Monetae Medallion

CNG 100, Lot: 1955. Estimate $20000. Sold for $15000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Galerius. As Caesar, AD 293-305. Æ Medallion (37mm, 39.06 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 295. GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB C, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / MONETA AVGG, the Tres Monetae standing left, each holding scale over pile of coins in right hand, cornucopia in left. Gnecchi II p. 132, 3, pl. 129, 1; Froehner p. 267; Cohen 137. Near EF, even brown surfaces. Bold portrait. Rare and impressive.

Ex Numismatica Genevensis SA III (29 November 2004), lot 163; Triton I (2 December 1997), lot 1675; Distinguished American Collection (Leu 52, 15 May 1991), lot 268.

The Tres Monetae, female personifications of the metals of gold, silver, and bronze used to strike coins, regularly appear on Imperial medallions during the economic crisis of the second half of the third century and reflect the efforts of a series of emperors to revive the economy through monetary reform. By the time of the Tetrarchy, massive inflation had crippled the economy and Diocletian implemented dramatic economic reforms, which included the introduction of the silver argenteus and bronze follis/nummus in AD 294/5.