So I bought a Gordian III today

A cool Gordian III you got there for sure.

As I've already shown my ants of his on another thred here just a few hours ago, I will show of my sestertius for a change


Gordian III, Sestertius Rome mint, AD 241/243
IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate and draped bust right, seen from behind
IOVI STATORI, Jupiter standing, looking right, holding thuderbolt and sceptre. S C in field
20,18 gr
Ref : Cohen #111, RCV # 8710, RIC # 298a

Q

 

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+1

 

Nice Gordians folks,I just add 3 more:

 

Nice Gordians, everyone. I really like his coins and there are some fine examples here.

Here is Gordian III situation I wanted to run by you all. Below are 2 Gordian III's with the JOVI STATORI reverse (RIC 84). The dark one (on the left) I bought almost 30 years ago from a dealer in Ohio. The other one (right) I got late last year off eBay (it was apparently an ex-Littleton Coin offering). Here is the dilemma:

Dark toned example weight: 4.18 grams
Shiny example weight: 1.82 grams.

I'd say the shiny one is a fake, but nothing else about it says "fake" to me - the flan is indeed kind of thin for these, but the style looks good, the strike looks good. It has very little wear, so I can't blame wear for the low weight. Anyway, here they are:

 

View attachment 693516 Here is mine, thanks to @Victor_Clark!

This may have been my very first attribution. I think so. So I'm not sure about the "silver" attribution and I don't see that I determined which RIC it is. I really need to get my coins completely attributed.




dimensions 7/8" at widest point
weight: 4.2 grams

EDITED: I have edited the attribution: I went to a website I never used before and found the correct RIC that @Victor_Clark gave me. Since I am using their attribution and photographs, I will give a link to their site. View attachment 693516
http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/roman/id/Coins-of-Roman-Emperor-Gordian-III.htm


Oy! Couldn't figure out how to make this all lay out in order the way I wanted.

 

Your coin is RIC IV Rome 37 and it was struck A.D. 240

The reverse description from RIC is
Gordian, togate, veiled, stg. front, head l., sacrificing out of patera in r. hand over altar, wand in l. hand.

 

Wow, 1.82g is pretty extreme! But we have seen Gordies at 7g, an extreme the other way... I suppose it's possible it could be genuine? But with so little metal, it seems surprising the portrait would be struck up as well as it is. I would be interested to learn the specific gravity of the coin.

 

1.82g is extremely light! I have about 60 ants of Gordian; they were not picked for weight, so I think they form a fairly typical sample pool. 4.22g is the average for mine, with the lightest being 3.29g. I have seen other examples in what appear to be good metal as low as 3.0g.

Yours looks genuine to me, but would have had to have started out low weight and suffered extreme crystallization and harsh cleaning to have gone down to 1.82g. If that's what has happened to it, I imagine it must feel quite odd in hand, almost hollow, compared to your other ant?

 

Oh! A wand! I will look at that RIC tomorrow. Thank you @ Victor.

 

Here's my Moesia Superior Viminacium Year III Gordian III

 

You are right, zumbly! It does feel kind of odd in hand - it is very thin and light (obviously) - it sort of reminds me of a potato chip. The crystallization process is sort of new to me (I've found some really good info on it online, including on CT), but I would imagine that is what is going on. I just can't figure anything else given its appearance otherwise. I have a couple other ancients that have crystalized, but usually you can tell because of an edge chip that reveals the core. This Gordie is intact (and so thin I am not sure how much of a core it has!).

Thank you for the information.

 

It is extreme at 1.82 - and 7 grams! Wow. The weight variations on antoniniani is really compelling to me - I did find a post on Coin Community Forum where a range of weights for Gordians were listed - 5.9 to 2.6 grams. It figures I'd end up with one that lowers the curve. Just like being in school again...

Doug's wonderful "cornbread analogy" is helpful to, from an earlier post:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/variable-weights-of-double-denarius.259110/

Mine might be a fake, but it sure is well done in regards to the portrait and lettering.

I wish I had the patience and smarts to do a SG test - or one of those fancy metal analyses. It was only a couple of months ago that I finally got a scale, so I am slow to adapt to technology.

 

Is the bust on LaCointessa's example "cuirassed"? I couldn't find an Antioch mint issue for this type on Wildwinds, but I was just wondering if perhaps this was not a Rome mint product? I am very new at Gordian III attributions, but I thought the cuirassed busts were typically Antioch? Also, this example seems to have a somewhat "Eastern Mint" treatment of the eye? Just wondering...and again, I am new at this.

 

Terrific examples guys!!!

I guess I'll throw in a sesterius that I really am fond of---with the Sol reverse: