CILICIA, Tarsus. Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ (38mm, 24.55 g, 6h). AVT • K • Γ • IOV • OVH • MAΞIMЄINOC • CЄ •, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right; Π Π across fields / TAPC O V MHTPO, AMKΓ • in exergue, the Three Graces (Charites) standing with arms around one another; central figure seen from behind; B to right. SNG BN 1605 (same dies); SNG Levante 1096 var. (obv. bust type & arrangement of rev. legend). Green and brown patina, minor roughness. Near EF. Perfectly centered with a fabulous reverse composition.
The Three Graces (or Charities) were goddesses of beauty, charm, and amusement, the embodiment of loveliness in all its aspects. Although their names varied from place to place, the most commonly encountered are Aglaea (“Beauty”), Euphrosyne (“Cheer”), and Thalia (“Flowering”). Over time an artistic convention of depicting the Graces developed: the three deities were shown undraped, each with one arm placed on the figure adjacent to them, the central figure standing facing the opposite direction as the others. This is the convention that one finds in numismatic depictions of the goddesses.
