IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG, cuirassed and laureate bust right / GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, naked but for chlamis over left shoulder and modius on head, with patera from which liquor flows, and cornucopiae. 28mm, 8.76 grams. London mint, minted c.300-303 CE. RIC 13.

Ex-Dr. Malcolm Lyne Collection, with a note that the coins are from the The Falmouth Roman Coin Hoard (1865). The Falmouth hoard of approximately 600-1000 roman bronze coins of the 3rd and 4th Century AD was found on farmland near Falmouth while ploughing on the 18th April 1865. This small parcel from the hoard was formally in the possession of Lord Stewartby who studied the find and published some of them.

Emperor Diocletian (c. 244–311 CE) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 284 to 305 CE and is best known for radically transforming and stabilizing the Roman Empire during a period of deep crisis. Rising from humble origins and a military background, he ended the chaotic Crisis of the Third Century and established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by four emperors to ensure more effective governance across the vast empire. Diocletian implemented wide-reaching administrative, military, and economic reforms, including efforts to curb inflation through the Edict on Maximum Prices. He also launched the empire’s last and most severe persecution of Christians. In a rare act for a Roman emperor, Diocletian voluntarily abdicated in 305 CE and retired to his palace in modern-day Split, Croatia. His reign marked a turning point in Roman imperial structure, laying the groundwork for the later Byzantine Empire.