MAXIMINUS THRAX
AD 235-238
AR Denarius. 2.91g, 20.3mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 235-236
REF: RIC 14; Cohen 85; BMC 99
OBVERSE: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: SALVS AVGVSTI, Salus seated left, feeding serpent rising from altar.

Grade/Notes: 
Extremely Fine/Very Fine. Lovely old cabinet tone. Fantastic early portrait of Maximinus, sharp and crisply struck. Reverse struck using slightly worn dies.
 
Historical Notes:
Gaius Julius Maximinus, the commander of the Fourth Legion, was a common soldier of Thracian stock. According to ancient historians, he was a giant of a man, more than eight feet tall and enormously strong. In 235, disaffected troops mutinied and murdered the last Severan emperor, Alexander, and declared Maximinus the new ruler of the empire. The Senate and nobility of Rome, discontented with having a barbarian emperor of peasant birth, would eventually turn against him in 238, first supporting the revolt of Gordian I, the governor of Africa, and when that failed, electing as co-emperors two of their own members, Pupienus and Balbinus. Maximinus's march towards Rome to put down the insurrection was met with more resistance than his troops had anticipated, and disillusioned, they killed the emperor and his son. Maximinus's coins, particularly the later issues, show a man with an enlarged brow and protruding lower jaw, common symptoms of acromegaly, also known as gigantism. Gaius Julius Maximinus, the commander of the Fourth Legion, was a common soldier of Thracian stock. According to ancient historians, he was a giant of a man, more than eight feet tall and enormously strong. In 235, disaffected troops mutinied and murdered the last Severan emperor, Alexander, and declared Maximinus the new ruler of the empire. The Senate and nobility of Rome, discontented with having a barbarian emperor of peasant birth, would eventually turn against him in 238, first supporting the revolt of Gordian I, the governor of Africa, and when that failed, electing as co-emperors two of their own members, Pupienus and Balbinus. Maximinus's march towards Rome to put down the insurrection was met with more resistance than his troops had anticipated, and disillusioned, they killed the emperor and his son. Maximinus's coins, particularly the later issues, show a man with an enlarged brow and protruding lower jaw, common symptoms of acromegaly, also known as gigantism.