Maiorina

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This 6 gram maiorina was minted in Cyzicus from 351 to 354 AD . On the obverse is Constantius II. Displayed and the lapel is a soldier with lance and shield to see over a fallen rider.

Maiorina refers to a late Roman, larger bronze coin ( pecunia maiorina ) with a low silver content. It was introduced under the emperors Constans and Constantius II . The name Maiorina is mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus . The expression is said to have stopped around 400.

After Constantine the Great carried out a comprehensive coin reform, the monetary system deteriorated again. The emperors Constans and Constantius II therefore felt compelled to carry out a new coin reform as early as 348. The follis was replaced by a new bronze coin called pecunia maior or Maiorina for short (Latin for "the larger one"; meaning a larger type of money).

The coin weighed between 3.5 and 7.5 g - with a diameter of 20 to 24 mm - and had a low silver content. In modern numismatics, the coin is referred to as AE plus the diameter or as a double issue of the centenionalis .

The ancient name has not been completely clarified. The word Maiorina refers to two places in the Codex Theodosianus. One chapter deals with the prohibition of the overland transport of coins; just Maiorina and Centenionalis. The passages point to the years 349 and 356.

Just ten years after its introduction, it was devalued to the level of the Centenionalis. The Centenionalis legend Fel now appears on the lapel. Temp. Reparatio (restoration of happy times).

Around the year 351 the usurper Magnentius had doubles with a diameter of 25 to 28 mm issued in Gaul. He was the first to put a single Christ monogram on the reverse of these circulation coins. Magnentius and his brother and Caesar Decentius had their editions created by mints in Ambanium (Amiens), Lugdunum (Lyon), Arelate (Arles), Treveri (Trier). Double pieces were then struck by Emperor Julian and the usurper Procopius in Constantinople. The last mintings of the Maiorina fall during the reign of Emperors Arcadius and Flavius ​​Honorius .

literature

  • Heinz Fengler : Lexicon Numismatics. transpress publishing house for traffic, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-344-00220-1 .
  • Dietrich Klose: Maiorina. In: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Manfred Landfester (eds.): Der Neue Pauly.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Roman Imperial Coinage VIII, p. 61, Billon maiorina coinage , 348-354