Diocletian, 284-305. Follis (Silvered bronze, 26 mm, 9.33 g, 6 h), Treveri, circa 294. IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P AVG Laureate head of Diocletian to left. Rev. GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI / TR The Genius of the Roman people standing front, head to left, holding patera in his right hand and cornucopiae in his left. E. Ghey: Rauceby Hoard Catalogue, in: ibid. (ed.): Recent Discoveries of Tetrarchic Hoards from Roman Britain and their Wider Context. British Museum Research Publication 236. London 2024, p. 242, 128 and pl. 13.7, 128 (this coin, still uncleaned). RIC 138. Two minor edge cracks, otherwise, very fine.



The Rauceby Hoard was discovered by a detectorist near Ancaster (Lincolnshire) in July 2017, close to Ermine Street, originally a Roman road leading from Londinium (London) to Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) and Eboracum (York). The hoard of over 3000 coins – all tetrarchic folles – was contained in a large ceramic vessel, itself buried at the center of an oval pit lined with quarried limestone. This betrays a deliberate act rather than haphazard burial in the face of danger and, quite possibly, the hoard was a votive offering to the gods. The youngest coin in the hoard was a reduced follis of Maximian, perhaps minted under Constantine I, but no coins of the latter as Augustus were found. This means the hoard was likely buried circa 307, amidst the events of Constantine I's acclamation as Caesar in Eboracum in 306 and his subsequent elevation to the rank of Augustus in December 307. The importance of the hoard further lies in its well-recorded find context and the fact that it is the largest recorded hoard from this period found in Britain to date.

The group offered in Web Auction 33 is, for the first time, made up of coins that, unlike the previous parts offered in Web Auction 32 and Web Auction 25, were not only recorded as a group in the Portable Antiquities Scheme but also individually published in the recently released work edited by E. Ghey: Recent Discoveries of Tetrarchic Hoards from Roman Britain and their Wider Context. British Museum Research Publication 236. London 2024. This presents collectors with a unique opportunity to acquire coins from this famous hoard, which have been featured as plate coins in the British Museum’s recent publication on British hoards from the Tetrarchy. After being returned to the finders, all the coins were expertly cleaned, allowing them to be admired in their full beauty. Since they appear in their uncleaned state in the British Museum’s publication, collectors also have the rare opportunity to view these coins both in their original and cleaned condition.

To assist those interested in the BM publication, the 187 coins from the Rauceby hoard in Web Auction 33 are sorted in ascending order, as numbered on the plates of this beautiful British Museum Research volume, rather than according to our usual conventions. This way, collectors can easily navigate both the publication and the auction and select the pieces they wish to add to their collection.