Diva Paulina, Wife of Maximinus I AR Denarius Consecration Issue Roman Empire 236-238 AD Silver Coin Museum Reproduction CSRD0095

Diva Paulina Augusta, was the “most nobil” mother of Gaius Julius Verus Maximus, who had been appointed Caesar (in 236) by his Imperial father, emperor Maximinus. The coinage for Paulina, all of it posthumous “consecration” issues, consisted of a single aureus, and small numbers of denarii and sestertii. The silver occurs with two CONSECRATIO reverse types: one with Juno’s peacock standing facing with tail fully spread; the other with Paulina seated waving on the back of a peacock which is flying.

Practically everything known about the wife of emperor Maximinus Thrax (i.e. the Thracian) is recorded by two Roman historians who do not mention her name. Worse yet, one of the great sources of consternation for modern catalogers of the coinage for Empress Caecilia Paulina is the lack of sculptural likenesses to corroborate the visage on the coins. Humphrey Sutherland, in RIC IV pt. 2, p. 135, observes: “Both Ammianus Marcellinus and Zonaras refer to Maximinus wife, though without giving her name: and the attribution to this lady of the coins bearing the legend DIVA PAVLINA rests on the resemblance of the portraiture to that of Maximinus himself.” “If, therefore, she is to be identified with the Paulina of the coins, the date of her consecration is difficult to determine.”
DESIGN:
Obverse side
Veiled and draped bust of Diva Paulina, right
Legend:
DIVA PAVLINA

Reverse side
Diva Paulina, raising her right hand and holding long scepter with her left, reclining left on peacock flying to right
Legend:
CONSECRATIO

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