Maximianus. Gold Aureus (5.35 g), first reign, AD 286-305. Treveri, AD 303. MAXIMIA-NVS P F AVG, laureate head of Maximianus right. Reverse: HERCVLI CONSER AVG ET CAESS NN, Hercules standing facing, head left, quiver at shoulder, holding grounded club and bow; TR. RIC 234; Depeyrot 108/4; Biaggi 1783; Calicó 4651 (same dies). Nicely centered and struck in high relief on a round flan. A handsome coin with a noble pedigree. NGC grade XF*; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5. Value $15,000 - UP
Maximianus has been described as the "military brawn" paired with the "political brain" of Diocletian as the two worked together to refashion the Roman Empire into something manageable as endless crises of external invasion, civil war, and economic disaster threatened to overwhelm it. The co-emperors themselves perhaps would have agreed with this description of their relationship since Diocletian associated himself with Jupiter, the wise father of men and gods, while Maximianus was linked to Hercules, son of Jupiter and the epitome of heroism. They even went as far as to assume additional names related to these deities, and Maximianus took the title of Herculius. Thus it is no surprise that his coins, such as this beautiful aureus, frequently feature types related to Hercules.
Ex Frederick S. Knobloch Collection, pt. II (Stack's, 3 May 1980), 1211; Ex MMAG XIX (5 June 1959), 260.