Well, this was unexpected....yet another silver roach for me (When Liberalitas goes wild)

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Sallent, May 17, 2018.

  1. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I said I'd hold off on buying any more Gordian roaches for a while, but whatever does "a while" mean? I suppose it could be months, weeks, days, or even a few minutes?

    So I've had this roach with Liberalitas on the reverse....

    Gordian Liberalitas.jpg

    I think we all know what Liberalitas stands for: Namely donatives given by emperors on special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, etc., to the troops as a special "Please don't kill me" bribe.

    It sort of went like this:

    Emperor: "So, I'm getting married."
    Chief Praetorian: "Great, can't wait for the boys to march in front of you and your new wife with their shinny swords. We will try hard to avoid accidentally tripping and accidentally murdering you or your new wife, but you know how clumsy the boys can be with their sharp toys.
    Emperor: "That sounds dangerous. Perhaps a little silver will make the boys less liable to accidentally murdering their emperor?"
    Chief Praetorian: "Naturally! The more you pay the less 'accident prone' we tend to be."


    So naturally when I saw this one, I had to buy it too....

    41585.jpg

    Yay, another Liberalitas. But do you see what makes this one so different from my first coin on this subject?

    Yeah, now you see why I couldn't help myself. Liberalitas II and Liberalitas III sure do compliment each other nicely. Now I have to find out if there ever was a Liberalitas IV, and I definitely need to track down the original Liberalitas reverse, from his first ever donative.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2018
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    kool...Libertas holding a counting board reverses..
     
  4. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Yeah, it is a cool reverse. And I just did research and yeah, there are three Liberalitas Avg reverses. I just need the original one now, the one without any roman numerals.

    This Gordian III thing is a lot of fun. I swear it is not an addiction though....honestly! I can stop whenever I want....

    Gordian horse.jpg Gordian III Salus Snake.jpg gordian apollo 6.jpg gordian concordia 6.jpg gordian jupiter 6.jpg gordian_6.jpg Gordian III denarius Diana Lucifera.jpeg 34010 (1).jpg
     
  5. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I just don't want to stop....ever!

    Gordian Pax.jpg SFt7cE9oQ27eRm8YFwr6i3Xx5Nipq4.jpg 3xDBR5Ej7QkcJ6HbAjc8yg2Kd9CkGa.jpg Hi5cd6YFSo3Fr23RY4g8b79W9oKxC4.jpg 30317LG.jpg
     
  6. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    One can't stop getting Gordies. It can get to be sort of an addiction - so many reverse types to collect. With the massive output of the Rome mint one can assume that the empire's financial crisis was about 10 years away.

    In the meantime, everything looked fine - the empire appeared as strong as ever. However, there was dry rot within. I'm sure Gordian had to make many donatives to keep the Praetorians appeased. Great post @Sallent !
     
  7. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I think it's time I get me a pack of these.

    1286850120-88845_full.jpg
     
  8. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    You know what I love more than the reverses....the great variety of styles of his portraits. It's amazing just how much his portraits could vary, to the point that one could be mistaken for seeing a coin of his and thinking it must be some other emperor. Most do have the large nose, and all have youthful expression and the short hair at least...but aside from those two or three characteristics the rest of the portrait can be all over the place.
     
    dadams, Deacon Ray, benhur767 and 2 others like this.
  9. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Cool addition!

    It's not like you have 160 of em, that'd be over board.
     
    dadams and Theodosius like this.
  10. David Atherton

    David Atherton Flavian Fanatic

    Interesting that you mention this. In 249 after Philip the Arab's murder it seems like the crisis was truly at hand and things began to spiral out of control. The mints were producing massive amounts of coins just to keep their heads above water. And we all know how that worked out!
     
  11. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Deficit spending?
     
  12. 7Calbrey

    7Calbrey Well-Known Member

    Here's Gordian III with Victory.

    GordVict O     Silver.jpg GordVictr R     Silv ant.jpg
     
  13. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    When you finish with the Imperials there are always a few thousand Provincials. Alexandria tetradrachm year 7 (his last) pa2157bb3169.jpg
     
  14. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Don't you dare! Roach's matter! Really though that's a pretty cool "short set" you have going on there Sallent. Hope you find your first.
     
    ancient coin hunter and Sallent like this.
  15. TheRed

    TheRed Well-Known Member

    roman-debasement-share.jpg

    I found this cool graphic someone put together regarding debasement in Roman coinage.
     
  16. benhur767

    benhur767 Sapere aude

    My only Gordian:
    gor-iii_mk_2017_0428_01.jpg
    Gordian III. AR antoninianus, Rome, 241 CE; 21mm, 4.42g, 1h. RIC 88, RSC 250. Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG; radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust r. Rx: P M TR P IIII COS II P P; Apollo seated l., resting his r. elbow on lyre set on throne and holding branch in his r. hand.
     
  17. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Gordian III, MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM reverse, Mars advancing right.

    Struck for the Persian campaign I imagine. This one I found on the web for sale.

    Should I pull the trigger?

    martem3.jpg
     
  18. Deacon Ray

    Deacon Ray Artist & Historian Supporter

    Great Gordians, @Sallent !

    I have nothing intelligent to share. Just nonsense :confused:

    BF3.jpg

     
  19. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Cool graphic certainly. Can anyone give even a wild guess why the maker used that photo of a coin to decorate the lower right corner of his graphic? If you are going to put all that work into a graphic couldn't you find a better coin to illustrate late Roman? There are thousands of images better than that Romulus you could steal. I might suggest picking a coin with less distinctive damage.
    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/quest.html bottom of page
    I asked years ago if anyone has a die duplicate of my coin. I suppose that this could be that dupe rather than my coin and photo.

    ru4250bb1188.jpg
     
    chrsmat71, zumbly, Curtisimo and 6 others like this.
  20. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Just stay away from those Gordy and Tranquillina marriage commemoratives. They're MINE! ALL MINE!!!
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Anchialos Athena Seated.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Anchialos Athena standing.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Anchialus Asklepios.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Marcianopolis Nemesis.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Mesembria.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Odessos Athena.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Odessos Serapis.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Odessos Tyche.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Tomis Hygeia.jpg
    Gordian III and Tranquillina Tomis Nemesis.JPG
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2018
  21. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Well, I was able to get a couple before you cornered the market @Roman Collector
    Gordian III 8.jpg Gordian III 2.jpg
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page