Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3033 8 August 2014
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Maximinus II Daza, as Caesar (AD 305-308). AV aureus (21mm, 5.11 gm, 6h). Aquileia, AD 305-306. MAXIMINVS NOB CAES, laureate head of Maximinus II right / CONCORDIA CAESS NOSTR, Concordia seated left, holding patera in right hand and double cornucopiae cradled in left arm, A Q in exergue. RIC --. Cohen --. Calicó 5002a (R5). Pauluchi 132. Extremely rare, perhaps only the second known example! Flan crack, minor edge marks, otherwise Choice About Uncirculated. Maximinus II Daza ("the Dacian"), nephew of Galerius, was serving in the imperial bodyguard in AD 305 when his uncle plucked him from obscurity and elevated him to the rank of Caesar in the Second Tetrarchy. Once established in power in his territories of Egypt and Syria, Daza seems not to have impressed his uncle greatly, for he was passed over for promotion twice in the chaotic years AD 306-309. In 310, he took matters into his own hands by having his troops proclaim him Augustus, setting him against four other Augusti (Galerius, Licinius, Constantine and the rebel Maxentius) and making a shambles of Diocletian's carefully constructed tetrarchic system. After Galerius' death in 311, Daza cast himself in his uncle's mold as the defender of paganism and a persecutor of Christianity, placing him in opposition to Constantine and Licinius, who favored religious toleration. After Constantine crushed Maxentius in 312, Daza attempted to do the same to Licinius, invading Thrace the following year with a sizeable force of 70,000. But his long forced marches exhausted his troops and the outnumbered army of Licinius won a resounding victory at the Battle of Tzirallum in AD 313. Daza fled the field dressed as a slave, but soon died either of disease or by his own hand. His rule had been harsh and his subjects welcomed Licinius as a liberator. Christians in particular reviled Daia as the last great Roman persecutor.This extremely rare aureus, probably issued to mark the elevation of Maximinus II as Caesar, was struck at the Italian mint of Aquileia. Until recently, only a single specimen was known to exist, the example plated in Calicó (vol. II, p. 839, 5002a). This example shares the same reverse die but a different obverse die, which displays evidence of a die crack that probably resulted in the die being discarded shortly after this specimen was struck.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD
Maximinus II Daza, as Caesar (AD 305-308). AV aureus (21mm, 5.11 gm, 6h). Aquileia, AD 305-306. MAXIMINVS NOB CAES, laureate head of Maximinus II right / CONCORDIA CAESS NOSTR, Concordia seated left, holding patera in right hand and double cornucopiae cradled in left arm, A Q in exergue. RIC --. Cohen --. Calicó 5002a (R5). Pauluchi 132. Extremely rare, perhaps only the second known example! Flan crack, minor edge marks, otherwise Choice About Uncirculated. Maximinus II Daza ("the Dacian"), nephew of Galerius, was serving in the imperial bodyguard in AD 305 when his uncle plucked him from obscurity and elevated him to the rank of Caesar in the Second Tetrarchy. Once established in power in his territories of Egypt and Syria, Daza seems not to have impressed his uncle greatly, for he was passed over for promotion twice in the chaotic years AD 306-309. In 310, he took matters into his own hands by having his troops proclaim him Augustus, setting him against four other Augusti (Galerius, Licinius, Constantine and the rebel Maxentius) and making a shambles of Diocletian's carefully constructed tetrarchic system. After Galerius' death in 311, Daza cast himself in his uncle's mold as the defender of paganism and a persecutor of Christianity, placing him in opposition to Constantine and Licinius, who favored religious toleration. After Constantine crushed Maxentius in 312, Daza attempted to do the same to Licinius, invading Thrace the following year with a sizeable force of 70,000. But his long forced marches exhausted his troops and the outnumbered army of Licinius won a resounding victory at the Battle of Tzirallum in AD 313. Daza fled the field dressed as a slave, but soon died either of disease or by his own hand. His rule had been harsh and his subjects welcomed Licinius as a liberator. Christians in particular reviled Daia as the last great Roman persecutor.This extremely rare aureus, probably issued to mark the elevation of Maximinus II as Caesar, was struck at the Italian mint of Aquileia. Until recently, only a single specimen was known to exist, the example plated in Calicó (vol. II, p. 839, 5002a). This example shares the same reverse die but a different obverse die, which displays evidence of a die crack that probably resulted in the die being discarded shortly after this specimen was struck.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD