The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Licinius I, 308 – 324
Aureus, Antioch 312-313, AV 5.30 g. LICIN – IVS P F AVG Laureate bust r. Rev. VOTIS V – MVLTIS X Victory standing r. inscribing VI / CTO / RIA / AVG on shield set on cippus ; behind her, Q / II and in exergue, SMAS. C –. RIC 4. Depeyrot 31/1. Calicó 5142.
Exceedingly rare and in exceptional state of preservation.
A magnificent portrait in the finest style of the period.
Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Provenance
Inventory of Freeman & Sear (Los Angeles), sold in November 2007.

Licinius I was one of a number of Balkan soldiers in the Roman legions who after an illustrious career attained the throne. Born about A.D. 250 in Dacia Ripensis, he distinguished himself under Galerius during the latter’s Persian expedition in A.D. 297. Thereafter he held a senior command on the Danube and was subsequently adopted by the emperor Diocletian. In A.D. 307 Galerius sent him as one of his envoys to parley with Maxentius, and although unsuccessful, in the following year he was made Augustus of the West with his domains being the Danubian and Balkan provinces of Thrace, Pannonia and Illyricum, as well as Maxentius’ provinces of Italy, North Africa and Spain, which he never did gain. Both Maximinus II and Constantine I were against Licinius’ elevation as it flouted their own claims to the throne, but by A.D. 310, in order to counter an alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius, Constantine had offered his sister Constantia’s hand in marriage to Licinius.
After Galerius’ death in A.D. 311, Maximinus quickly moved to take all of Asia Minor before Licinius could do so. They soon reached an agreement to demarcate their respective territories at the continental border, but by the winter of A.D. 312/3 Maximinus had broken the agreement when he invaded Licinius’ territories. Hurrying from Mediolanum where he had consummated his marriage to Constantia, Licinius rushed east to counter the forces of Maximinus. After several initial reverses, Licinius succeeded in defeating his enemy, and pursued him all the way to southern Asia Minor where he died soon thereafter at Tarsus. Maximinus’ death left Licinius and his brother-in-law Constantine, who meanwhile had defeated Maxentius, in joint control of the Roman Empire, with Constantine firmly established as the sole Augustus in the West and Licinius as the sole Augustus in the East.
This coin was struck at Antioch soon after the death of Maximinus in August, A.D. 313, and commemorates Licinius’ imperial vows. The imperial vows were a tradition whereby the emperor formally expressed his thanks for his time already in power and his hopes for a bright and prosperous future, and were typically commemorated on coinage. In Licinius’ case, though, the Roman gods must have been looking down on him as his future was grim. While he did enjoy a further eleven years on the throne, he and Constantine repeatedly clashed both politically and militarily, with the eventual outcome being that Licinius lost both his throne and his life.