Maximinus Thrax Silver Denarius, RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3

Monetary and Political Context

The accession of Maximinus I in early 235 AD signaled a decisive shift in the governance of the Roman Empire, as imperial power transferred from the Severan dynastic establishment to a career military commander elevated by Danubian legions. The imperial administration immediately faced immense fiscal demands dictated by protracted frontier warfare along the Rhine and Danube. To secure legionary loyalty and finance expansive operations against Germanic tribal coalitions, the state relied heavily on substantial cash distributions and regular military pay. The denarius served as the principal transactional instrument for these disbursements, even as the double-denarius (antoninianus), originally introduced under Caracalla, remained largely absent from official mint output until later in the reign. Under Maximinus, denarius output expanded significantly in volume, while continuing the metallographic debasement that had characterized the preceding decades. Studies of third-century imperial silver indicate that the denarii of 236 AD were struck at an average alloy of roughly 40 to 45 percent silver, with the balance comprised of copper and trace elements. The typical struck weight clustered around 3.0 grams, though striking tolerances caused individual weights to range between 2.6 and 3.5 grams. Within this monetary landscape, RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 played an integral role as a high-volume state issue, combining standard monetary purchasing power with explicit political messaging crafted to satisfy military expectations and legitimize a non-senatorial emperor.

Mint Organization and Production

Numismatic scholarship securely attributes RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 to the principal imperial mint at Rome. Although Maximinus never entered the capital city during his reign, remaining near his operational base on the northern frontiers, the centralized administrative apparatus in Rome continued to control the production of official precious metal currency. The mint at Rome operated with a structured officina system, generally divided into multiple parallel workshops responsible for preparing flans, engraving dies, and striking coins under the oversight of imperial procurators. Die studies pioneered by Michael Alram reveal that die-cutting at Rome during this period maintained a remarkably high level of technical competency, despite political turbulence. Obverse dies were cut by experienced celators who created deeply modeled portraits reflecting the transition from the idealized Severan portraiture to the imposing, heavily featured likeness of Maximinus. Flans were cast in open or two-part molds and struck hot or warm, producing occasional edge splits, irregular contours, and slight off-centering typical of rapid, large-scale third-century coinage production. The alignment of obverse and reverse dies generally followed an approximate six-o'clock or twelve-o'clock orientation, conforming to imperial mint standards.

Obverse Iconography and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 features a mature right-facing bust of Maximinus I, depicted with a laurel wreath, drapery over the shoulders, and an underlying cuirass. The emperor's physiognomy on issues from 236 AD is distinctive, characterized by a prominent, jutting chin, deep-set brow, furrowed forehead, and heavily textured short beard and cropped hair executed through fine punch marks and engraved strokes. This portrait style, categorized by Alram as the emperor's second portrait group, moved away from the softer, transitional facial traits seen on early 235 AD strikes that still resembled Severus Alexander. The inclusion of both paludamentum (military cloak) and cuirass reinforced the warlike character of the emperor, presenting him directly as an active imperator in the field. The laurel wreath sits firmly upon his head, with ribbon ties trailing down behind the neck, serving as an ancient emblem of victory and imperium. The die work captures a commanding, stern countenance intended to communicate military vigor and authoritarian resolve to both civilian users and the legions.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 depicts the emperor in full military attire standing toward the left, positioned between two upright legionary signa (standards). Maximinus raises his right hand in an allocutio or salutatory gesture, while his left hand holds a spear, upon which he leans. The military garments include a cuirass, tunic, and paludamentum draped from his shoulders, visually echoing the martial themes of the obverse bust. The flanking standards are crucial elements of the composition, symbolizing the legionary cohorts and detachments under his command. These signa are rendered with standard military phalerae (discs) and wreaths stacked along the central shafts. By placing the emperor physically between the emblems of military cohesion, the design articulates imperial solidarity with the armed forces. The gesture of the raised right hand signifies imperial authority, benevolence toward the soldiers, and the active command of troops on campaign. Unlike personifications of abstract virtues such as Pax or Providentia, this reverse type relies entirely on direct imperial martial iconography, projecting an unmediated message of supreme commander leading victorious legions.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The legends of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 provide precise constitutional and chronological anchors for the issue. The obverse legend reads IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, representing the standardized early titular formula of the reign. The title Imperator (IMP) opens the formula as a praenomen, followed by the emperor's adopted name Maximinus, the traditional honorific Pius (dutiful or pious), and Augustus (AVG). Notably, this obverse formula omits later victory titles such as Germanicus Maximus, which began appearing systematically on Rome mint issues after his major campaigns across the Rhine later in 236 AD. The reverse inscription reads P M TR P II COS P P, which unpacks the full constitutional titles held by the emperor: Pontifex Maximus (chief priest), Tribunicia Potestate II (holding tribunician power for the second time), Consul (having held the consulship), and Pater Patriae (father of the fatherland). The designation TR P II is pivotal for dating, confirming that the dies were prepared during his second tribunician year in 236 AD. The epigraphy is executed in clean, classical Roman capital letters, cut deeply into the dies with neat serif terminations, arranged outward from the lower left around the beaded border.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 is classified as an issue of his second tribunician renewal in 236 AD. It corresponds chronologically to Michael Alram's Issue 2 for the Rome mint (MIR 27). The type succeeded RIC IV 1 (dated to TR P in 235 AD) and preceded issues displaying TR P III and TR P IIII, struck in 237 and 238 AD respectively, as well as the parallel issues bearing victory cognomina such as VICTORIA GERMANICA. Typological variations within RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 primarily involve minor differences in portrait bust treatment and standard detailing across different die pairs. While the primary design mandates a draped and cuirassed bust, slight shifts in the angle of the spear or the exact rendering of the phalerae on the legionary signa reflect the hand of different celators working within the Rome workshops. Despite these minor artisan variants, the type remains coherent and strictly defined by its exact obverse and reverse legend pairing and central figure arrangement.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Denarii of RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3 entered circulation during an era when older Severan issues from Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Elagabalus, and Severus Alexander still constituted the bulk of circulating silver currency. Because the Gresham-like economic conditions of the mid-third century encouraged hoarding of older, higher-fineness coins, the newly struck denarii of Maximinus circulated heavily along military trade routes and frontier encampments where payments were actively injected into local markets. Hoard evidence from Roman Britain, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces regularly records specimens of Maximinus I dating to 236 AD. In major hoard deposits, such as the Shapwick and Dorchester hoards in Britain or continental deposits along the limes, denarii of TR P II appear alongside earlier Severan silver, exhibiting varying degrees of wear from light to moderate. Following the debasements under Gordian III and the reintroduction and dominance of the antoninianus after 238 AD, denarii were progressively phased out of everyday circulation, resulting in many Maximinus denarii surviving in hoards buried during the mid-third century crises.

References

1. Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Maximinus I. Thrax (235-238). MIR 27, Issue 2
2. The Coinage of the Severan Dynasty and the Crisis of the Third Century. pp. 115-128
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 138, no. 3
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 3. ric.4.max_i.3