Maximinus Thrax Denarius, RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius)

Monetary Context and Fiscal Imperatives

The accession of Maximinus Thrax in March of AD 235 signaled a critical turning point in the Roman imperial economy and the nature of third-century coinage. Following the assassination of Severus Alexander and his mother Julia Mamaea near Mogontiacum (modern Mainz), Maximinus faced immediate fiscal pressure to secure the allegiance of the northern frontier armies. To appease the legionaries and guard units, he promised an extraordinary accession donative, often cited by ancient historians as effectively doubling the stipend and distributing large immediate bounties. Meeting these obligations required an unprecedented acceleration of output at the imperial mint, sustained primarily by the regular denarius. By AD 235, the denarius was an alloyed silver coin containing significant copper. Metallurgical analyses of early third-century hoards demonstrate that under Severus Alexander, the silver fineness of the denarius fluctuated near forty-three to forty-five percent, with an average target weight centered between 2.8 and 3.2 grams. Maximinus maintained this nominal standard during his initial coinage in AD 235 and 236. The denarius served as the operational currency of the Roman state, functioning as the primary vehicle for military salaries, state procurement, and regional taxation. Although Caracalla had introduced the double denarius (antoninianus) in AD 215, production of that larger denomination had ceased under Severus Alexander. Maximinus chose not to revive the double denarius during his first two years, making issues such as RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius) the primary denomination of imperial expenditure at the start of his reign.

Mint Operation and Production Organization

The entire primary output of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius) has been firmly assigned by numismatic consensus to the imperial mint of Rome. Although Maximinus himself never visited the capital during his three-year reign, remaining on campaign along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, the administrative machinery of the Moneta Urbis functioned with remarkable speed following news of Severus Alexander's fall. The Senate and imperial procurators confirmed Maximinus's imperial titles, allowing the mint in Rome to prepare dies and strike currency immediately. The mint of Rome operated using a structured system of officinae (workshops), typically organized into six parallel production lines during the Severan and early soldier-emperor periods. While specific officina marks did not appear regularly on denarii until later in the third century, hoard analyses and die studies indicate that different workshops shared reverse themes to distribute workload. The Fides Militum motif was assigned substantial capacity during the first emission of AD 235 and into early AD 236, running alongside concurrent issues featuring Salus, Victoria, and Pax. Blank preparation at Rome involved casting spherical or flattened flans in open molds, followed by hammering while cold or slightly warmed. Because dies were subjected to intense manual striking, slight variations in centering, die cracking, and rim thickness are standard for this issue. Weight distributions across surviving specimens generally align with the Severan target of roughly 3.0 grams, though tolerances were loose, resulting in individual specimens ranging from under 2.5 grams to over 3.5 grams without representing distinct denomination standards.

Obverse Iconography and Portrait Typology

The obverse of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius) features a right-facing bust of the emperor, described in formal numismatic typology as laureate, draped, and cuirassed. Maximinus wears the laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties falling over the shoulders. Over his torso, the paludamentum (military cloak) is fastened at the right shoulder, draped across the chest, and folded over an underlying scale or plate cuirass visible at the neck and shoulder. This specific bust combination distinguishes variant 7A from related entries in the catalogue: RIC IV 7b exhibits a laureate bust with drapery only, while RIC IV 7c displays a laureate and cuirassed bust without drapery. Die cutters at Rome initially lacked direct physical models of the new emperor, who had spent decades serving on distant provincial frontiers. Consequently, the earliest dies of AD 235 show a somewhat conventionalized Severan facial structure, occasionally evoking the general physiognomy of Severus Alexander or Caracalla. Within months, however, official portraits or detailed descriptions reached Rome, prompting the engravers to develop Maximinus's distinctive iconographical persona. His portrait evolved rapidly into a powerful, hyper-masculine image marked by an elongated jaw, prominent chin, deep brow line, and rugged features. Even in the earlier stylistic group represented by RIC IV 7A, the portrait projects an unmistakable air of military command, emphasizing the transition from courtly dynastic rule to unvarnished soldierly authority.

Reverse Iconography of Fides Militum

The reverse of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius) is dedicated to Fides Militum, the religious and political personification of military loyalty. Fides is depicted standing frontally with her head turned to the left. She is fully draped in a long stola or chiton that falls to her feet, often with folds indicating movement or classical contrapposto. In each hand, she grasps an upright military standard (signum), which rests vertically upon the ground. Each military standard is rendered with traditional Roman legionary elements: a spearpoint or eagle finial at the top, a crossbar with hanging tassels, and a series of circular phalares (decorative phalerae medallions) mounted along the shaft. The imagery directly recalls the sacred oath of allegiance (sacramentum) taken by Roman legionaries and auxiliary soldiers before the standards, which were themselves venerated as religious objects within the camp shrine (aedes principiorum). Numismatically, the Fides Militum motif was an established staple of imperial propaganda, but under Maximinus it held profound urgency. Having attained the purple exclusively through army rebellion without traditional senatorial approval, the emperor needed to reinforce continuously the concept of unwavering army loyalty. The dual standards emphasize both the Rhine legions that initiated the coup and the Danubian troops that ratified it, celebrating an idealized unity between the armed forces and their newly elevated supreme commander.

Epigraphy and Titulature Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius) are concise and adhere strictly to traditional Roman imperial epigraphy, executed in clean, classical Latin capitals. The obverse inscription reads: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG This expands to Imperator Maximinus Pius Augustus. The title Imperator acts as a military praenomen, underscoring Maximinus's role as commander-in-chief. Maximinus serves as his imperial cognomen. The epithet Pius (Pious or Dutiful) was customary for new emperors, affirming religious devotion and respect for Roman tradition, while Augustus completes the formal nomenclature of supreme sovereign rule. Strikingly absent from this early obverse legend is the ancestral name Julius or any genealogical claim connecting him to the Severan dynasty, reflecting an abrupt break with dynastic fictions. The reverse inscription reads: FIDES MILITVM This translates simply as 'The Loyalty of the Soldiers' or 'Fidelity of the Troops' in the genitive plural. The epigraphic layout is unbroken, curving around the upper perimeter of the reverse field, while the lower exergue remains empty without mintmarks or dates. The lettering on Rome mint dies of this period is generally neat and regular, though die wear occasionally produced thickened letterforms or blurred crossbars, particularly on the complex letter 'M' in MILITVM.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the structural framework established by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), Volume IV, Part II, the denarii of Maximinus are categorized chronologically by imperial consulships, tribunician power (tribunicia potestate), and shifting reverse types. Type 7A belongs to the first issue of the reign, struck from late March AD 235 into early AD 236. Because the obverse legend lacks a specific tribunician count (e.g., P M TR P or TR P II), dating relies on portrait development, mint output sequencing, and hoard associations. The earliest emission at Rome utilized the basic obverse legend IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG. Late in AD 236, following victorious operations beyond the Danube and Rhine, Maximinus assumed the victory title Germanicus Maximus, altering the reverse and obverse inscriptions across subsequent issues to reflect this triumph. RIC catalogued the Fides Militum denarii under type number 7, dividing them by obverse bust decoration: 7A for laureate, draped, and cuirassed right; 7B for laureate and draped right; and 7C for laureate and cuirassed right. Modern digital corpuses such as Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) preserve this division with exact type identifiers. RIC IV 7A represents one of the most prolific individual varieties of this inaugural phase, remaining in production until the introduction of new campaign-specific reverse types later in AD 236.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of type RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A circulated widely throughout the western and Danubian provinces, as well as in the Italian peninsula. Because Maximinus transferred substantial forces to the northern frontier to conduct campaigns against the Alamanni, Sarmatians, and Dacians, vast quantities of fresh coin shipments moved directly from the Rome mint to military supply depots along the Rhine and Danube. In archaeological contexts, this issue appears consistently in European coin hoards deposited during the middle and late third century. Prominent British, French, and Balkan hoards—such as the Dorchester hoard in Dorset or the Falkirk hoard in Scotland—feature Maximinus's Fides Militum denarii alongside earlier Severan currency. The coins often exhibit moderate to heavy wear, indicating that they remained in active commercial circulation long after Maximinus's death in AD 238. The effective circulation life of these denarii extended through the 240s and 250s AD. As succeeding emperors under the Gordian and Decian administrations increasingly relied on the double denarius (antoninianus), older denarii like RIC IV 7A were progressively hoarded or melted down for their silver bullion, which was still relatively superior to the severely debased billon radiate coinage of the late 250s and 260s AD.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 145-168
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. pp. 222-225
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 7A (denarius). ric.4.max_i.7A_denarius
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 138, no. 7A