This is a funny fake being sold directly from Bulgaria. When the price was at a dollar I almost put a bid in because its such a funny and interesting fake. Its a shame they have to use their obvious talents to make fakes...Some Maximinus I portraits already look like a caricatures but this one takes it a step further...although its not that terribly far off from some I have seen. These guys could be making a series of imperial caricatures and I would probably buy them...but I guess they can get more money passing them off as authentic. compared to this:
bottom one is authentic, top is fake...the style, even for a maximinus coin is a bit over the top. The style and features (both portrait and reverse) are wrong. This is a coin that some would deem 'not a dangerous fake' but like I always say, and what Mr. Stainless has helped illustrate...most fakes are dangerous for someone. This was offered in a private auction on ebay in a German auction and the country of origin was the ancient fake haven Bulgaria...It started for a dollar and I thought I might buy it just to have this amusing peice but the price was bumped up...sadly it was probably bumped by people who thought it was real.
At a closer look, I would be skeptical, but I still wouldn't have called it a fake without Drusus pointing it out. The Letters look cast. The style is also different, but I would have assumed a different variety. stainless
That's an interesting fake. I wouldn't mind having one. Maximinus has quite a chin. Reminds me of Jay Leno. Leno is of Italian descent. I wonder if Leno is a descendent of Maximinus.
Yeah, needless to say the resemblance has been noted often here is my Maximinus I (Thrax) Denarius which is a bit of a middle ground portrait: His story is very interesting: http://www.cachecoins.org/maximinusthrax.htm and a few busts:
I believe so. One thing about Maximinus is he was a soldier by trade and he was acclaimed emperor by his troops away from Rome. In fact he never once (while emperor) stepped foot in Rome.... he spent his whole short rule campaigning and although they mark him as the beginning of the decline...He was probably the best man for the job (although he was despised by the senate as being a barbarian (Thrax) Thracian.) He probably was instrumental in keeping Rome from being over run and starting the trend of Soldier / General / Emperor Many coins show him with far less of a chin than others...Far more normal facial features. Most of his statues show a man with a prominent brow jaw and chin but not near as exagerated as on some of the coins. But most coins and statues show many of the same features. The theory about him that I have always seen put forth to explain the wide variety chins on his coins and statues is that few knew exactly what he looked like and as time went on (not much time as he did not rule for long) the coins started to look more like him as people began to actually see him. the other theory is that he suffered from some bone disfigurement because of a pituitary problem that got worse with age and made his features (chin) more distorted...though his reign was so short there would not have been such a change in such a short time and he was relatively unknown to most before becoming emperor so most people would not have known what he looked like when young...though maybe they did as a giant is probably pretty hard to miss. It was known he was very large as it was reported in sources as follows: Herodian (antagonistic towards the barbarian emperor) writes: He was in any case a man of such frightening appearance and colossal size that there is no obvious comparison to be drawn with any of the best-trained Greek athletes or warrior elite of the barbarians. By his birth and normal behavior he was a barbarian. Possessing the bloodthirsty temperament derived from his ancestors and his country The unreliable Historia Augusta elaborates: He was of such size...that men said he was six inches over eight feet in height and his thumb was so huge that he used his wife's bracelet for a ring. Other stories are reported almost as common talk — that he could drag wagons with his hands and move a laden cart by himself, that if he struck a horse with his fist, he loosened its teeth, or with his heel, broke its legs. so he would be hard to miss in a crowd.
Here's my example with a bit less chin Maximinus I, 235-238 AD, AR denarius - PAX AVGVSTI Attribution: RIC 12 (RIC IV, Part II), RSC 31 Date: 235-238 AD Obverse: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right Reverse: PAX AVGVSTI Pax standing left holding branch and scepter Size: 19mm Weight: 2.42 grams
the bust on the fake is horrid to my eyes... very cartoony and sculpted ham fistedly. i do however, like the standing figure on the fake. it almost has a more tribal feel than the original.
