MAXIMINUS II DAIA
AD 310-313
AE Follis. 4.21g, 23mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 312-313
REF: RIC 350b
OBVERSE: IMP MAXIMINVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Legionary eagle facing left, between two standards, one surmounted by a hand, the other by a wreath; RP in exergue. 

Grade/Notes:
Very Fine.
Rare in the name of Maximinus II.  Revives a reverse design issued at Rome by the original optimus princeps, Trajan, almost exactly 200 years earlier.  The legend, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, translates to, "the Senate and the Roman People, for the Best Princeps”.
 
Historical Notes: 
Maximinus II Daia was the nephew of emperor Galerius, and even before the latter's death, he had begun to claim the title of Augustus, in competition with Constantine I, Licinius, and Maxentius. Early Christian writers who lived through his persecutions of Christians ascribed all manner of crimes and sinful vices to him. Eusebius wrote that Maximinus was "deranged and crazed", an "instructor in wickedness to those about him", and that he "could not pass through a city without continually corrupting women and ravishing virgins." In 313, Maximinus's army was defeated by that of Licinius at the Battle of Tzirallum. Maximinus escaped the battle dressed as a slave and fled to Tarsus, where he continued to be beseiged by Licinius until his death in August of that year.