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A Maiorina of Maximus of Barcino
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<p>[QUOTE="seth77, post: 2245631, member: 56653"]<b>Maximus</b> was a brief usurper in Spain, who controlled mostly the area around <b>Barcino</b> (modern day Barcelona) but had some degree of control over most of the provinces of Spain. In the <b>summer of 410</b>, he was raised to the purple and supported by <b>Gerontius</b> (Constantine III's general in Spain) with support also from local "barbarian" factions, after hearing news that Constans II (Constantine III's son and heir) would replace him as leader of the Spanish legions.</p><p>Although at first victorious against Constans II and Constantine III, Gerontius would lose his soldiers to Constantius III (Honorius's general sent to Gaul to crush both rebels after their infighting had left them both weak) and therfore <b>commited suicide in 411</b>. Subsequently his protegee Maximus would also abandon his stronghold at Barcino and flee south to seek refuge with the "barbarians". It's possible that the same character would <b>resurface in July 419</b> to claim the purple again aided by Spanish local interests. In <b>February 421</b> though he was captured by Honorius's troops and brought to Rome where he was displayed and executed the following year at the celebrations of <b>Honorius's tricennalia.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>During his brief control of Barcino and parts of Spain, Maximus minted coins sparingly, with <b>siliquae</b> being the most frequent and studied, but also <b>AE2's and AE3's</b> which are some of the most <b>obscure base-metal issues of the period.</b></p><p>I think this one is one of those AE2's:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b> MAXIMUS of BARCINO AE2 23mm 5.01g (F+, very worn) </b></font></p><p><br /></p><p>AV: D D N MAXIMVS P P AG [?]; pearl-diademed, bearded, draped, cuirassed bust r.</p><p><br /></p><p>REV: [VICTO - R]IA AVCC[C]; Emperor holding victory on globe crowning him, raising woman with his right arm.</p><p><br /></p><p>EXE: SM[BA] Barcino mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>REF: <b>RIC X 1602/3 rated - R4 p. 351, plate 46.1602; extremely rare, RIC records 3 specs (p. 150); <a href="http://esty.ancients.info/ricix/type58.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://esty.ancients.info/ricix/type58.html" rel="nofollow">Esty Type 58</a> 410-411AD.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Very interesting coin. </b>Sometime, most likely at the beginning of the<b> 5th century </b>there are a few so-called<b> <a href="http://www.tesorillo.com/bajo_imperio/m_maximo/m_maximo.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.tesorillo.com/bajo_imperio/m_maximo/m_maximo.htm" rel="nofollow">"local Spanish versions" (see bottom of the page for examples)</a> </b>copying<b> Magnus Maximus (383-388AD) Maiorinae </b>that combine 2 different reverse types minted at<b> Lugdunum: the design of REPARATIO REIPVB </b>with the<b> legend of VICTORIA AVGG. </b>The mintmark of these (also rare and specific of the Barcino area, probably minted by the same ad-hoc mint as that used by Maximus), also copied from the earlier original Magnus Maximus Lugdunum types was<b> LVG[P/S] </b>or similar variations. Just a few, maybe only a couple of years after these "Spanish Maiorinae" were minted (can't be many, since the reverse design and legend are exactly the same) Maximus minted his own, <b>changing only the mintmark, from the pseudo-Lugdunum LVG[] to SMBA - "Sacra Moneta Barcino"</b>, in order to officialize the unofficial mint and give legitimacy to his claim to the purple in Spain.</p><p>What makes this coin here probably one of the extremely rare issue of this rare and rather obscure usurper against Honorius - cf. P. Grierson/M. Mays in "Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumberton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection" notes <a href="https://books.google.ro/books?id=sdCjnwoQLR0C&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=maximus+from+barcelona+AE&source=bl&ots=gllCYSaxeT&sig=aQE3gElsqZaN9p24s8z4VXbTQJk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIm674qf6hxwIVgcAUCh2WCABN#v=onepage&q=maximus%20from%20barcelona%20AE&f=false" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.ro/books?id=sdCjnwoQLR0C&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=maximus+from+barcelona+AE&source=bl&ots=gllCYSaxeT&sig=aQE3gElsqZaN9p24s8z4VXbTQJk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIm674qf6hxwIVgcAUCh2WCABN#v=onepage&q=maximus%20from%20barcelona%20AE&f=false" rel="nofollow">"only two specimens have been recorded."</a> - are 2 features: <b>the bearded bust specific of Maximus and the mintmark, which although very worn out, you can still see in the bottom left the upper hyphen of the S and the shadowy upper parts of the M from SMBA.</b> The garbled obverse legend (D D N ... PP AG) can be put on the lack of quality control and skilled celators of this "unofficial" turned official mint. What is also very probable is that these Maiorinae minted under Maximus and the generic "Spanish Maiorinae" were probably the product of the same celators. <b>A local copy, ulterior to Maximus, is also a possibility, as copies of his siliquae are also known.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]443534[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, you can watch faults present in this coin in some of his siliquae, for instance notice <b>the P that looks like a D on the obv. legend</b> on both this siliqua sold by Gemini in 2008 and on the AE2 presented here:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]443535[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>RIC X has one of them pictured on <b>Plate 46 1602</b>, unfortunately the picture is in poor quality and the coin appears to be worse than this one presented here:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]443536[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The 5th century is not really my focus, but this is an interesting numismatic curiosity that I wanted to share with you.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="seth77, post: 2245631, member: 56653"][B]Maximus[/B] was a brief usurper in Spain, who controlled mostly the area around [B]Barcino[/B] (modern day Barcelona) but had some degree of control over most of the provinces of Spain. In the [B]summer of 410[/B], he was raised to the purple and supported by [B]Gerontius[/B] (Constantine III's general in Spain) with support also from local "barbarian" factions, after hearing news that Constans II (Constantine III's son and heir) would replace him as leader of the Spanish legions. Although at first victorious against Constans II and Constantine III, Gerontius would lose his soldiers to Constantius III (Honorius's general sent to Gaul to crush both rebels after their infighting had left them both weak) and therfore [B]commited suicide in 411[/B]. Subsequently his protegee Maximus would also abandon his stronghold at Barcino and flee south to seek refuge with the "barbarians". It's possible that the same character would [B]resurface in July 419[/B] to claim the purple again aided by Spanish local interests. In [B]February 421[/B] though he was captured by Honorius's troops and brought to Rome where he was displayed and executed the following year at the celebrations of [B]Honorius's tricennalia.[/B] During his brief control of Barcino and parts of Spain, Maximus minted coins sparingly, with [B]siliquae[/B] being the most frequent and studied, but also [B]AE2's and AE3's[/B] which are some of the most [B]obscure base-metal issues of the period.[/B] I think this one is one of those AE2's: [SIZE=5][B] MAXIMUS of BARCINO AE2 23mm 5.01g (F+, very worn) [/B][/SIZE] AV: D D N MAXIMVS P P AG [?]; pearl-diademed, bearded, draped, cuirassed bust r. REV: [VICTO - R]IA AVCC[C]; Emperor holding victory on globe crowning him, raising woman with his right arm. EXE: SM[BA] Barcino mint. REF: [B]RIC X 1602/3 rated - R4 p. 351, plate 46.1602; extremely rare, RIC records 3 specs (p. 150); [URL='http://esty.ancients.info/ricix/type58.html']Esty Type 58[/URL] 410-411AD.[/B] [B]Very interesting coin. [/B]Sometime, most likely at the beginning of the[B] 5th century [/B]there are a few so-called[B] [URL='http://www.tesorillo.com/bajo_imperio/m_maximo/m_maximo.htm']"local Spanish versions" (see bottom of the page for examples)[/URL] [/B]copying[B] Magnus Maximus (383-388AD) Maiorinae [/B]that combine 2 different reverse types minted at[B] Lugdunum: the design of REPARATIO REIPVB [/B]with the[B] legend of VICTORIA AVGG. [/B]The mintmark of these (also rare and specific of the Barcino area, probably minted by the same ad-hoc mint as that used by Maximus), also copied from the earlier original Magnus Maximus Lugdunum types was[B] LVG[P/S] [/B]or similar variations. Just a few, maybe only a couple of years after these "Spanish Maiorinae" were minted (can't be many, since the reverse design and legend are exactly the same) Maximus minted his own, [B]changing only the mintmark, from the pseudo-Lugdunum LVG[] to SMBA - "Sacra Moneta Barcino"[/B], in order to officialize the unofficial mint and give legitimacy to his claim to the purple in Spain. What makes this coin here probably one of the extremely rare issue of this rare and rather obscure usurper against Honorius - cf. P. Grierson/M. Mays in "Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumberton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection" notes [URL='https://books.google.ro/books?id=sdCjnwoQLR0C&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=maximus+from+barcelona+AE&source=bl&ots=gllCYSaxeT&sig=aQE3gElsqZaN9p24s8z4VXbTQJk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIm674qf6hxwIVgcAUCh2WCABN#v=onepage&q=maximus%20from%20barcelona%20AE&f=false']"only two specimens have been recorded."[/URL] - are 2 features: [B]the bearded bust specific of Maximus and the mintmark, which although very worn out, you can still see in the bottom left the upper hyphen of the S and the shadowy upper parts of the M from SMBA.[/B] The garbled obverse legend (D D N ... PP AG) can be put on the lack of quality control and skilled celators of this "unofficial" turned official mint. What is also very probable is that these Maiorinae minted under Maximus and the generic "Spanish Maiorinae" were probably the product of the same celators. [B]A local copy, ulterior to Maximus, is also a possibility, as copies of his siliquae are also known.[/B] [ATTACH=full]443534[/ATTACH] Also, you can watch faults present in this coin in some of his siliquae, for instance notice [B]the P that looks like a D on the obv. legend[/B] on both this siliqua sold by Gemini in 2008 and on the AE2 presented here: [ATTACH=full]443535[/ATTACH] RIC X has one of them pictured on [B]Plate 46 1602[/B], unfortunately the picture is in poor quality and the coin appears to be worse than this one presented here: [ATTACH=full]443536[/ATTACH] The 5th century is not really my focus, but this is an interesting numismatic curiosity that I wanted to share with you.[/QUOTE]
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