A sestertius of Maximinus Thrax - Damnatio Memoriae defacement, or just plain old corrosion, or?

Here's a coin that I thought I still owned, but could not locate. Eventually it was found in a bag with a bunch of world coins, great organization!

This coin, which as bronze disease and is being treated, is interesting not in its beauty of form and execution - its chances of appearing on the cover of Roma's auction catalog is on the minus side of nil - but rather to the sizeable area on Maximinus's cheek. The area seems to have been gouged out. So, the question is, was this defacement due to a dislike of Maximinus, who did not in his time have access to Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People? Or, is this gouged out area due to a clumsy effort to remove deposits or corrosion? Or, could this be a large flaw that the coin had as it left the mint? I think this possibility unlikely.

The coin also has an area on the reverse where some metal is missing, a possible lamination?

I was able to find this interesting information online regarding the damnatio memoriae of Maximinus Thrax, and Nero as well:

Was damnatio memoriae ever used before a ruler had fallen as a means of criticising their rule?

It’s tempting to imagine defaced coins being released into circulation by aggrieved citizens…

This happened especially when damnatio was passed on the current emperor by the Senate in Rome while he was with the army in the provinces, or by usurpers in the provinces who revolted against the current emperor in Rome. The defacement of imperial images and the erasure of the imperial name were used to delegitimize emperors who were still alive, such as Nero (AD 54-68), who was declared a public enemy while still in Rome and the armies in Gaul and Spain were in revolt, and as Maximinus Thrax (AD 235-238), whose damnatio was passed in Rome while he was fighting the German tribes on the Rhine border.

Here's a link to the source:

https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/an...s-erased-the-memory-of-their-fallen-emperors/

So, there's the coin.

Maximinus Thrax 235-236 AD
AE sestertius
Rome
Obverse: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG Laureate, draped bust right.
Reverse: PROVIDENTIA AVG Providentia standing left, holding cornucopiae and pointing to globe at feet with wand; S-C in fields.
RIC: 61

16.2 grams



So, what do you think? Does anyone have other examples?

Thanks

 

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That looks like someone took a chuck out of old battling Maximinus' face to me. He was not very poplar with the gentry in Rome and elsewhere.

Here's what he looked like with his face intact on a denarious. Legend had it that he was 8 feet tall and could were his wife's bracelet on his thumb. He was undoubtedly big, but not that big.

 

nvm

 

To me it doesn't look like a typical Damnatio, the damage would be more to the right destroying the eye and nose of Maximinus.
on the reverse a part of the encrustation and patina broke off.

Here's my Sestertius of Maximinus Thrax:

 

I have never seen a corrosion spot look like that unless it had some help. A lamination would be more likely if the mark in the face is natural.

 

Yes, it could be corrosion, but my experience with corrosion is that the resulting surface is usually pitted and rough. This example shows gouge marks, indicating the removal of metal.

I have seen other damnatio memoriae coins, and the gouges tend to be more individual, larger and covering more of the obverse. Can there be deviations from this? I find the placement of the gouged area, squarely on the portrait suggestive but I guess not conclusive, something that can be viewed from either perspective from now until the cows come home.

Thanks

 

It looks to me like either delamination caused by the poor alloy and/or minting process, or corrosion (bronze disease?) that developed from the delamination, or both.
I'm sure they could've defaced it much "better" if Maximinus' coinage was condemned.

 

This coin actually does have traces of bronze disease, mostly eradicated now during treatment. The spot were to the right along the edge of the portrait.

Maximinus Thrax was actually condemned (see my first post). I really have no idea how or if his coinage was defaced, other than this example, which could be a case of corrosion, or defacement followed by corrosion, or other possible combinations. The cheek does look scooped out, with a layer of brown deposits.

Oh well, it is something for me to think about during my many idle hours.

Thank you all for your opinions. I value them all.

 

The only sestertius I have of Max Thrax in my collection. Dude looks really acromegalic on this one:


Maximinus I, AD 235-238.
Roman Æ Sestertius, 26.7 mm, 18.01 gm.
Rome, AD 236-238.
Obv: MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: SALVS AVGVSTI SC, Salus enthroned left, feeding snake arising from altar.
Refs: RIC-85; BMCRE-175, Sear-8338; Cohen-92.

 

Some say... Damnatio Memoriae

AEMILIANUS


RI
Aemilianus
253 CE
AE24
Viminacium mint
Rev: P M S COL VIII;Moesia standing, looking left between bull and lion, AN XI - Damnatio Memoriae (eye and neck slashed)
Comments: (John provided)
Aemilian was a powerful general who defeated invading Goths and got himself proclaimed emperor by his troops. He marched on Rome and defeated Trebonianus Gallus, but when Valerian came at him with a much larger army, Aemilian's soldiers mutinied and assassinated him. He reigned all of three months in AD 253.
His short reign makes him one of the challenging slots in an emperor set, which is probably exacerbated by the fact that a damnatio memoriae was issued against him. Likely many of his already scarce issues were destroyed.
Aemilianus, 253. Bronze, Viminacium in Moesien. Büste / Weibliche Gestalt zwischen Stier und Löwe. Pick, Dacien & Moesien I, 1, S. 57, g.; Grünbraune Patina Selten Sehr schön
Ex: @John Anthony


FAUSTA


RI Fausta 325-326 CE AE3 Spes stdg 2 infants SMHA 20mm 3.48g scratch over eye damnatio memoriae by Constantine

 

I do not have any coins of Max, but some months back I read the ancient historian Herodian’s description of the reign of Maximinus and it completely changed my view of him. Yes he was part of the coup that killed Severus Alexander, who ruled in a way that made him popular with the Senate.

But it is not as if Maximinus became emperor and then sat back and enjoyed himself. He was soldier through and through who enjoyed much success fighting the Germans once he became emperor, leading the troops through the swamps and reporting on his success at Rome through a series of paintings that were publicly posted. And if the Senators were forced to pay for the soldiers, well that is the price of security.

After reading Herodian I wondered whether Roman history would have been vastly different if Maximinus had lived. Certainly he would have done much better than Gordon III and Phillip in responding to the Persian (was it Persia or still Parthia?) invasion in 244AD, and the later Goth invasions.

And if Maximinus had had a long reign the terrible events After ca. 250AD may not have happened- Maximinus’ military skill might have nipped all of it in the bud.

Who knows, if Maximinus had lived and had a long, successful reign Rome might never have fallen.

 

The best efforts of damnatio on Maximinus's coins that I've seen go beyond simple defacement. The two below have been tooled to have Maximinus's head placed on a spike. On the one on the right, his eye is even being pecked out by a bird.

 

Wow! Someone went to a lot of trouble with those two coins. It looks like the same treatment was done on the reverse of the second coin.

The animus towards Maximus is very clear in the second coin's obverse.

Yes, Maximus Thrax was an able military leader, but being that wasn't enough given the snake pit of Roman politics of the 3rd century AD.

 

Those 2 examples shown by @zumbly are the most elaborate Damnatio Memoriae examples I have ever seen.

 

..idk...its possible someone goughed it..but i'd more think it was other than human forces at work...the damage to the face on my sest. of would be most likely a digging implement of some type that happened much later