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Rome, 7.5.2023
Dear,
below are the significant elements concerning the
figure coin:
Æ Sestertius1, mint of
Rome, January 236 - March/April 2382,
RIC
IV/II 78 (pag. 146), rarity index
"C".
Summary description (parts worn or otherwise
illegible of the legend are indicated in red):
D. MAXIMINVS
PIVS AVG GERM3. Maximinus,
laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
R. FIDES MILITVM4.
Fides standing l., holding signum in each hand. S
C5, left and
right in the field.
The search on the web for coins of the type of
figure gave rise to the following results:
- https://www.vcoins.com/it/stores/ken_dorney/52/product/maximinus_i_235__238_ad_sestertius_fides/1042737/Default.aspx
€204.28 Quotazione: 05/05/23 Maximinus I, 235 -
238 AD, Sestertius, Fides MAXIMINUS I, 235 - 238
AD AE Sestertius, Rome Mint, 30mm, 21.55g
Obverse: MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate,
draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right.
Reverse: FIDES MILITVM S C, Fides standing left
holding signum in each hand. RIC78 Struck on a
large flan, lovely dark patina with excellent
surfaces.
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=40797
Image 0 Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 1168. Estimate $400.
Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003. Sold
For $300. MAXIMINUS I. 235-238 AD. Æ Sestertius
(24.51g). Struck 236-238 AD. Laureate, draped,
and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind /
Fides standing left, holding military standard
in each hand. RIC IV 78; Cohen 13. Good VF, dark
brown patina.($400)..
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=70594
Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 821. Estimate $150. Closing
Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005. Sold For
$150. MAXIMINUS I. 235-238 AD. Æ Sestertius
(27.47g, 12h). Struck 236-237 AD. Laureate,
draped, and cuirassed bust right / Fides Militum
standing facing, head left, holding standards.
RIC IV 78; BMCRE 139; Cohen 13. VF, dark green
and brown patina, light smoothing in fields,
small die break on neck. ($150).
- https://www.vcoins.com/it/stores/ken_dorney/52/product/maximinus_i_235__238_ad_sestertius_with_fides/1559752/Default.aspx
€113.49 Quotazione: 05/05/23 Maximinus I, 235 -
238 AD, Sestertius with Fides Maximinus I, 236 -
238 AD. AE Sestertius, Rome Mint, 30mm, 17.13g.
Obverse: MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate,
draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus right.
Reverse: FIDES MILITVM S C, Fides standing left
holding standard in each hand. RIC 78.
- https://auctions.bertolamifinearts.com/it/lot/9495/maximinus-i-235-238-sestertius-28mm-/
LOTTO 822 - E-LIVE AUCTION 38 Maximinus I
(235-238). Maximinus I (235-238). Æ Sestertius
(28mm, 14.51g, 12h). Rome, 236-7. Laureate,
draped and cuirassed bust r. R/ Fides standing
l., holding signum in each hand. RIC IV 78;
Banti 4. Green patina, Good Fine - near VF.
- https://www.ma-shops.com/sondermann/item.php?id=1803&lang=it
Prezzo 190,00 EUR Maximinus I. Thrax Sestertius,
struck AD 235-236 at Rome mint. Obv: MAXIMINVS
PIVS AVG GERM, laureate, draped and cuirassed
bust right. Rev: FIDES MILITVM / S - C (in
fields), Fides standing left, holding standards.
24,68g, 33mm. RIC 78.
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=352150
412, Lot: 636. Estimate $200. Sold for $300.
Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (30mm,
21.44g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD
236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust
right / Fides standing left, holding signum in
each hand. RIC IV 78; BMCRE 139; Banti 4. Good
VF, green and red-brown patina. From the Matthew
Rich Collection. Ex CNG Inventory 438704
(December 2016).
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=330050
391, Lot: 494. Estimate $150. Sold for $130.
Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (29mm,
20.88g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD
236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust
right / Fides standing left, holding signum in
each hand. RIC IV 78; BMCRE 139; Banti 4. VF,
dark brown patina, light pitting on obverse.
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=330051
391, Lot: 495. Estimate $150. Sold for $150.
Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (30mm,
22.63g, 1h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD
236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust
right / Fides standing left, holding signum in
each hand. RIC IV 78; BMCRE 139; Banti 4. VF,
dark brown patina, some red on reverse.
- https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=326381
387, Lot: 492. Estimate $100. Sold for $80.
Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (33mm,
21.72g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD
236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust
right / Fides standing left, holding signum in
each hand. RIC IV 78; BMCRE 140-1; Banti 4. Near
VF, gray and brown patina, some deposits, flan
crack, slight die shift on obverse. From the
estate of Thomas Bentley Cederlind.
- https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces280329.html
Issuer Roman Empire (Rome) Emperor Maximinus I
Thrax (235-238) Years 236-238 Value As = 1⁄16
Denarius Currency Antoninianus, Reform of
Caracalla (AD 215 – 301). Composition Bronze.
Weight 10.1g. Diameter 25mm. Shape Round
(irregular). Technique Hammered. Demonetized
Yes. Number N# 280329. References RIC IV.2# 80,
OCRE# ric.4.max_i.80.
Coming to conclusions, the physical characteristics
of the coin are missing and a comparative
examination with the authentic coins of the period
is not possible. On a separate page I have
compared the coin in question with ten
authentic samples found on the web. The result of
the comparison is that the coin is probably
authentic, while its market value in the present
conditions does not exceed, in my views, thirty
euros.
Best regards.
Giulio De Florio
--------------------------------------------
Notes:
(1) In
principle, since the physical characteristics
are not known, the figure coin could be both a
sestertius (Ric 78) and an as (Ric 80 - see link11).
In practice, however, asses are not so frequent
on the market, which is why it is much more
likely that the sample under consideration is a
sestertius rather than an as. I collect in the
table below the physical characteristics of the
sesterces of the type of figure taken from the
links above:
| References |
Weight(g) |
die axis(h) |
Diameter(mm) |
| Link1 |
21,55 |
- |
30 |
| Link2 |
24,51 |
- |
- |
| Link3 |
27,47 |
12 |
- |
| Link4 |
17,13 |
- |
30 |
| Link5 |
14,51 |
12 |
28 |
| Link6 |
24,68 |
- |
33 |
| Link7 |
21,44 |
12 |
30 |
| Link8 |
20,88 |
12 |
29 |
| Link9 |
22,63 |
1 |
30 |
| Link10 |
21,72 |
12 |
33 |
In the absence of the physical
characteristics of the sample under examination,
it will not be possible to carry out a comparative
examination with the genuine coins of the period,
nor to determine with certainty the type of
nominal.
(2) I draw from the Ric the
dating of the sample in question, January 236 -
March, April 238,
(3) MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM
(MAXIMINVS PIVS AVGustus GERManicus). Maximinus,
Emperor from 235 to 238 d. C., was a Thracian
peasant family endowed with great height and
physical prowess. He entered the ranks of the army
at the time of Emperor Septimius Severus, where he
had risen to become governor of Mesopotamia. In
235 he was on the Rhine frontier when a military
revolt led to the murder of Severus Alexander and
his mother Julia Mamaeas, encamped near Mainz (22
March 235 AD) and to the acclamation of Maximinus
as the new emperor. He fought successfully against
the Germans but in Rome he was opposed by the
nobility and only reluctantly the Senate
recognized him the title of Augustus. In late 235
or early 236, as a result of the successful
campaigns against the Germans, Sarmatians and
Dacians, he was awarded the titles of
"Germanicus", "Sarmaticus", "Dacicus". In 238,
first the rebellion of the Gordians against tax
impositions in Africa, then that of the Senate
that led to the rise of Pupienus and Balbinus,
induced Maximinus to move against Rome. But, after
an unsuccessful siege of the city of Aquileia, the
soldiers mutinied, tired of the harsh discipline
and the scarcity of food, and killed him together
with his son Maximus Caesar.
(4) FIDES
MILITVM.
Fides was the Roman personification of trust,
loyalty and oath. She was also venerated under the
name Fides Publica Populi Romani (roughly “general
trustworthiness of the Roman people”). According
to tradition, Rome’s second king Numa Pompilius
established annual festivals in honour of Fides,
and instituted that the higher priests (the three
flamines maiores) were brought to the temple in a
covered vaulted chariot drawn by two horses. There
they were to conduct Fides’ services with their
heads covered and their right hands wrapped up to
their fingers, thus showing absolute devotion to
Fides and symbolising trust. There is historical
evidence of the erection of a temple on the
Capitol during the 1st Punic War. Its temple in
Rome, consecrated in 254 BC by the consul Aulus
Atilius Caiatinus, was located on the Capitol near
the temple of Jupiter. Here the Roman Senate
signed and kept treaties with other states,
entrusting them to Fides’ protection. As a rule, a
standing woman is depicted, usually with ears of
corn and a basket of fruit or a cornucopia and
bowl. She thus embodies the “Fides publica” – the
promise of trust and loyalty between the emperor
and the Roman people. In the later – and
increasingly uncertain – imperial period, more and
more issues of the “Fides militum” and the “Fides
exercitus” were added, mostly with military
attributes such as spear, sceptre, standard or
aquila. These coins fervently invoke the loyalty
of the legions and soldiers to their emperor.
Since Maximinus Thrax was not very popular, he was
particularly dependent on loyalty and fidelity as
emperor. However, this did not help him -
Maximinus was slain by his own troops in April 238
AD - more precisely: by soldiers of legio II
Parthica.
(5) S C
(Senatus Consulto, "by decree of the Senate") was
the usual abbreviation affixed to the Roman bronze
nominals (sesterces, dupondi and asses) to
indicate the exclusive competence of the Roman
Senate in decisions relating to the issues of
those coins (the gold and silver coinage, which
does not bear that acronym, fell instead within
the direct competence of the emperor). |
