Maximinus I Thrax (AD 235-238) BI Tetradrachm

Pretty coin with high relief and excellent details with traces of silvering - some areas of a bungled strike, but otherwise very pleasing coin

Maximinus Thrax, a giant Thracian soldier of humble birth, was the first of the 'soldier emperors' - his accession in 235 AD after the murder of Severus Alexander marks the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century. He reportedly never set foot in Rome and was killed by his own troops at the siege of Aquileia in 238 AD, the Year of the Six Emperors. Alexandria struck billon tetradrachms for Egypt's closed currency system, and this one is dated to year 2 of his short three-year reign.