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<p>[QUOTE="Julius Germanicus, post: 4551156, member: 80783"]Today my first ever purchase from NAC arrived. It is a huge improvement over my first Sestertius of Paulina which is pictured here and was only a space filler:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1126711[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Coins of Paulina have been rare even in ancient times:</p><p><br /></p><p>Their number in the Guelma hoard (just five specimens of hers compared to 455 of Maximinus and 80 of Maximus) suggest that less of 1 % of Maximinus´ production of Sestertii was reserved for Paulina, while no middle bronzes were struck in her name at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>My replacement is the most expensive coin I ever bought of an imperial lady, but I think it leaves little to be desired:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1126685[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>PAVLINA - Veiled and draped bust right.</p><p>CONSECRATIO - Paulina, raising hand and holding scepter, seated l. on peacock flying upward upward to right. In field, S – C.</p><p>Sestertius, Rome ca. September-December 236.</p><p>31,9 mm, 23.46 gr</p><p>RIC IV 3, plate XI (same dies); Banti 1 (same dies)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1126686[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>We do not know if Maximinus Thrax´ wife (and mother of his son, the Caesar Maximus) was still alive at the time of her husband's accession in March, 235. This would just be possible as she has holds the imperial title of Augusta on the single surviving inscription mentioning her (CIL x. 5054), where she is styled “Diva Caecilia Paulina Pia Augusta” and on a local bronze issue of Anazarbus in Asia Minor. In any case she must have died soon after as the posthumous Anazarbus coin belongs to Maximinus´ first year.</p><p><br /></p><p>In any case the reverse of this coin shows her apotheosis, or ascension to the heavens, aboard a flying peacock, the symbol of Juno. This was the culmination of an elaborate funeral ceremony in which the body was burned on a tiered pyre from which a bird was theatrically released (an eagle, the holy bird of Jupiter, was used for emperors), symbolising the empresses soul being carried to her place among the gods. The iconography associated the empress directly with the divine and with the principate of the emperor. Augustae became “kingmakers”, propagators and continuers of the dynasty, developing a public image of their role which advantaged the reproduction of the political system itself. For this reason the deification of these women was part of the imperial cult as a systematized method of connecting the ruling family to the religious and cultural heritage of the Roman Empire. The imperial women were deified to give Rome, along with the deified emperors, the numina of their identity. </p><p> </p><p>If this coin refers to an actual event, it would imply that Paulina was indeed empress for a short time before her death.</p><p><br /></p><p>I doubt this because even if Paulina had still been alive at her husband's accession, she certainly never visited Rome during his Principate. Her actual features were certainly not known to the celators of the capital's mint when Maximinus, after returning from his victorious campaign into Germania Magna (including the now famous Harzhorn battle) had her deified by the Senate.</p><p>It looks like even Maximinus himself did not have a realistic picture or bust at hand which could be used as a model, which further proves that Paulina most likely must have had deceased before the soldier Maximinus could have seen the use of ordering a portrait usable for the creation of a coin die.</p><p><br /></p><p>What he did send to Rome after his victorious return from the Elbe river in the summer of 236 was a realistic portrait of himself, which became known as his third portrait style, and which obviously served as the model for the facial features seen in Paulina´s postumous coinage:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1126735[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right</p><p>VICTORIA GERMANICA - Maximinus, in military attire, standing left, his right hand raised, holding spear in left, German captive seated left at his feet, looking back, emperor crowned by Victory standing left behind him, also holding palm.</p><p>Sestertius, Rome ca. September-December 236</p><p>32,34 mm / 21,64 gr</p><p>RIC 93; BMCRE 198 and pl. 40; Cohen 114; MIR 26-5</p><p><br /></p><p>Including my Sestertius of Maximus Caesar I now have a complete set of unpatinated Sestertii of the Imperial family from the same emission, just like one a visitor to the imperial mint in 236 aD might have received as a gift.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1126737[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>MAXIMVS CAES GERM - bare-headed and draped bust of Maximus right</p><p>PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS S C - Maximus, in military attire, standing left, holding rod pointing downwards in right hand and transverse spear in left, two standards behind.</p><p>Sestertius, Rome September 236 – April 238 aD</p><p>32,13 mm / 20,36 gr</p><p>RIC 13; BMCRE 213; Cohen 14; MIR 37-5</p><p><br /></p><p>That's it for now, friends. It´s two in the morning in Germany and I need to get some sleep <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Please share your coins of Paulina, her family, Peacocks, consecrations, or anything you like!</p><p><br /></p><p>Also I would be very happy for any old catalogue listings or provenances of my new coin. I have found no less than 15 Sestertii from the same dies, by the way![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Julius Germanicus, post: 4551156, member: 80783"]Today my first ever purchase from NAC arrived. It is a huge improvement over my first Sestertius of Paulina which is pictured here and was only a space filler: [ATTACH=full]1126711[/ATTACH] Coins of Paulina have been rare even in ancient times: Their number in the Guelma hoard (just five specimens of hers compared to 455 of Maximinus and 80 of Maximus) suggest that less of 1 % of Maximinus´ production of Sestertii was reserved for Paulina, while no middle bronzes were struck in her name at all. My replacement is the most expensive coin I ever bought of an imperial lady, but I think it leaves little to be desired: [ATTACH=full]1126685[/ATTACH] PAVLINA - Veiled and draped bust right. CONSECRATIO - Paulina, raising hand and holding scepter, seated l. on peacock flying upward upward to right. In field, S – C. Sestertius, Rome ca. September-December 236. 31,9 mm, 23.46 gr RIC IV 3, plate XI (same dies); Banti 1 (same dies) [ATTACH=full]1126686[/ATTACH] We do not know if Maximinus Thrax´ wife (and mother of his son, the Caesar Maximus) was still alive at the time of her husband's accession in March, 235. This would just be possible as she has holds the imperial title of Augusta on the single surviving inscription mentioning her (CIL x. 5054), where she is styled “Diva Caecilia Paulina Pia Augusta” and on a local bronze issue of Anazarbus in Asia Minor. In any case she must have died soon after as the posthumous Anazarbus coin belongs to Maximinus´ first year. In any case the reverse of this coin shows her apotheosis, or ascension to the heavens, aboard a flying peacock, the symbol of Juno. This was the culmination of an elaborate funeral ceremony in which the body was burned on a tiered pyre from which a bird was theatrically released (an eagle, the holy bird of Jupiter, was used for emperors), symbolising the empresses soul being carried to her place among the gods. The iconography associated the empress directly with the divine and with the principate of the emperor. Augustae became “kingmakers”, propagators and continuers of the dynasty, developing a public image of their role which advantaged the reproduction of the political system itself. For this reason the deification of these women was part of the imperial cult as a systematized method of connecting the ruling family to the religious and cultural heritage of the Roman Empire. The imperial women were deified to give Rome, along with the deified emperors, the numina of their identity. If this coin refers to an actual event, it would imply that Paulina was indeed empress for a short time before her death. I doubt this because even if Paulina had still been alive at her husband's accession, she certainly never visited Rome during his Principate. Her actual features were certainly not known to the celators of the capital's mint when Maximinus, after returning from his victorious campaign into Germania Magna (including the now famous Harzhorn battle) had her deified by the Senate. It looks like even Maximinus himself did not have a realistic picture or bust at hand which could be used as a model, which further proves that Paulina most likely must have had deceased before the soldier Maximinus could have seen the use of ordering a portrait usable for the creation of a coin die. What he did send to Rome after his victorious return from the Elbe river in the summer of 236 was a realistic portrait of himself, which became known as his third portrait style, and which obviously served as the model for the facial features seen in Paulina´s postumous coinage: [ATTACH=full]1126735[/ATTACH] MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right VICTORIA GERMANICA - Maximinus, in military attire, standing left, his right hand raised, holding spear in left, German captive seated left at his feet, looking back, emperor crowned by Victory standing left behind him, also holding palm. Sestertius, Rome ca. September-December 236 32,34 mm / 21,64 gr RIC 93; BMCRE 198 and pl. 40; Cohen 114; MIR 26-5 Including my Sestertius of Maximus Caesar I now have a complete set of unpatinated Sestertii of the Imperial family from the same emission, just like one a visitor to the imperial mint in 236 aD might have received as a gift. [ATTACH=full]1126737[/ATTACH] MAXIMVS CAES GERM - bare-headed and draped bust of Maximus right PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS S C - Maximus, in military attire, standing left, holding rod pointing downwards in right hand and transverse spear in left, two standards behind. Sestertius, Rome September 236 – April 238 aD 32,13 mm / 20,36 gr RIC 13; BMCRE 213; Cohen 14; MIR 37-5 That's it for now, friends. It´s two in the morning in Germany and I need to get some sleep :-) Please share your coins of Paulina, her family, Peacocks, consecrations, or anything you like! Also I would be very happy for any old catalogue listings or provenances of my new coin. I have found no less than 15 Sestertii from the same dies, by the way![/QUOTE]
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