Hi,

Very attractive coin indeed!

I do see what you mean by 'helping hand', but I do not think it is there. In my opinion it is a die break.

S.





Thanks, glad you like it!I agree that's a valid possibility, particularly if no one's ever seen a Maximinus like this. Which is why I'm asking.Though it seems quite a coincidence to occur in just that place and shape. And it wasn't unprecedented for earlier engravers to show a snake being lifted over an altar , in this case by Salus herself: