Maximinus II Daia

I don't think that we have covered off Lugdunum mint here yet.

 

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And Nicomedia.... libations flowing to the Altar

Obv:– IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– GENIO AVGVSTI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys at waist, left hand holding cornucopiae and right hand holding patera, from which liquid is flowing, sacrificing over lighted altar
Minted in Nicomedia (_ | E // SMN).
Reference(s) – RIC VI Nicomedia 71b

 

NICE capture @randygeki ! Just a great looking well-struck and centered coin! Congrats on the cool abscond!

I only have two of this guy:


RI Maximinus II Daia 305-308 CE Folles AE30 Trier mint Genius-Serapis stndg


RI Maximinus II Daia 305-308 CE AE20 Genius stndg

 

We have seen quite a few variations on the Maximinus theme. I'll add a few I have not seen above.
In the early days when there were too many tetrarchs, the powers tried to placate Constantine and Maximinus with the original title 'Son of the Augusti' (Filius Augustorum). They are not rare but not common either.


Do we need a Rome mint coin? I probably bought this for style and flan shape as much as anything.


What was once silver, by this time the argentius was ugly billon. This is from Trier.

 

I do have one other, but I don't really post it much

 

I'd like to put another face on this.

Sometimes the "ugly billon" could like rather nice:

Not as spiffy as really good silver perhaps, but decent enough, I think.

 

Billon probably looked fine when new but we see them today in many degrees of degradation. It took the denarius a couple centuries to go from 1st century sparkle to what we could hardly recognize as silver bearing. When Diocletian started over with silver we call argentii, we may not have been as pure as Augustus' denarii but Maximinus here has a silver grade that compressed a century worth of debasement into a year.

I am a big fan of billon coins of Alexandria so I am well aware of how good and how bad coins can be after surviving all these years. I do wonder how each of the extremes looked compared each other when made.

 

I was not aware that billon argentii were struck, I thought it was a good silver coin produced for only a few years and struck by Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius. Well, one learns something new every day!

 

RIC VI tells us that from 309-313 silver was scarce in the empire and so half-argentei and, later, base metal argentei were struck for Maximinus II, with the SOLI INVICTO COMITI reverse (above), and also for Licinius with a IOVI CONSERVATORI AVG reverse type. If I dare show it the latter can be seen here:

Licinius I: IOVI CONSERVATORI AVG


At this time Constantine I is still minted in good silver half-argenteus pieces, which are very rare.

However, Patrick Bruun makes the case in RIC VII (introduction to coins of Trier) that in 313 coins of Maximinus and Constantine were issued from Trier as half folles in the SOLI INVICTO COMITI and VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP reverses. The coins of Maximinus are identical to the half-argenteus type shown above, but now appear in a high silver content bronze:

Maximinus Daza: SOLI INVICTO COMITI


Constantine I: VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP

 

Since this thread I have acquired another variant of the OP coin for my hoard. This had been on offer at a fixed price but the seller had turned down a few offers from me. He placed it on his ebay venue and I ended up paying a small fraction of the original asking price.

Maximinus II - Follis - RIC VI Alexandria 099a

Obv:– GAL VAL MAXIMINVS NOB CAES, Laureate head right
Rev:– GENIO CAESARIS, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys at waist, left hand holding cornucopiae and right hand holding patera
Minted in Alexandria (K | B / P // ALE). Late A.D. 308 - A.D. 310
Reference(s) – RIC VI Alexandria 99a (Common)

An overall pleasing example. Lots of residual silvering that has toned to an attractive golden hue.

Weight 6.44g. 23.84mm. 180 degrees

 

here's one I recently got...RIC only lists this type for Maximinus as Augustus



Maximinus II
A.D. 311
24x25mm 7.6gm
GAL VAL MAXIMINVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
BONO GENIO PII IMPERATORIS (To the good genius of the pious Emperor) Genius standing left, holding patera & cornucopiae; crescent over K left, A over P right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria –

 

Great find.

 

not to derail the thread, but Bruun was wrong and, if still alive, he would probably change his opinion on this. There has been much written on this since the 1966 publication of RIC VII. Bruun based this on his belief that some of these Max II coins tested as "regular bronze coins"

More work and analysis on these coins has been done since and I have some info on my page, including a link to the article (at the bottom) that explains how Bruun arrived at his erroneous opinion- http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/billon/

 

Nice

 

Some great coins of Maximinus II Daia on this thread.

Unless I missed it I did not see this reverse legend on this thread.
eBay pickup that just arrived today.



OBV: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG
Laureate head right
REV: GENIO EX-ERCITVS
Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over shoulder,
holding cornucopia and pouring liquor from patera, alter at feet, crescent left, E right, ANT in ex (Antioch)
7.06 g, 22.6 mm

 

I really like the thick coins of Maximinus II with a high relief.
I don't think this reverse has been shown yet:



Cyzicus 311-13 AD
RIC VI 94v G, Maximinus II, AE Follis.
VIRTVTI EXERCITVS, Mars walking right holding spear, shield and trophy over shoulder. Γ in left field. Mintmark MKV.