Diva Paulina. Died before AD 235. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.71 g, 12h). Consecration issue. Rome mint. 2nd emission of Maximinus I, AD 236. Veiled and draped bust right / Peacock standing facing, head left, tail spread. RIC IV 1 (Maximinus); BMCRE 135 (Maximinus); RSC 1. Lightly toned with soft matte surfaces. Near EF. Pleasing portrait.
Ex Künker 318 (11 March 2019), lot 1511.
As with many other empresses of the later Roman Empire, very little is known about Caecilia Paulina, wife of Maximinus I Thrax. Maximinus is said to have worn his wife's bracelet as a ring on his thumb, an anecdote intended to emphasize his
enormous size. Paulina died either before her husband's accession or shortly thereafter, as all her coins are posthumous and name her as Diva, or goddess. Some of her portraits appear to be feminized versions of her husband, although this example has a more delicate and distinctive visage.