RPC volume VII.2 - From Gordian I to Gordian III (AD 238–244): all provinces except Asia - has just come online and is available here. The database for this volume contains over 3,600 types and 24,000 coins. It joins online the previously published volume VII.1 that covers the same period for Asia. The main authors for this volume are Jerome Mairat and Marguerite Spoerri. Here's a recent arrival of mine that's already been included in the database, as one of six coins recorded for this type: TRANQUILLINA AE23. 6.0g, 23.4mm. THRACE, Odessus, AD 241-244. Varbanov 4614 (R7); AMNG 2405; RPC Online VII.2, - (unassigned; ID 28597). O: CAB TPANKVΛΛEINA C, diademed and draped bust right. R: ΟΔΗCCΕΙΤΩΝ, Demeter standing right, holding long torch and grain ears, facing Persephone standing left, holding patera and torch.
I'm so happy these RPC volumes are online! Here's my favorite GIII provincial. RPC lists five specimens. https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/71531 THRACE, Hadrianopolis. Gordian III AE 18 mm, 2.59 gm Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓORΔIANOC AVΓ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: AΔPIANOΠOΛEITΩN; ostrich running like @stevex6 is chasing it with a basting brush Ref: Varbanov 3833, rare https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-now-extinct-animal-on-a-roman-coin.287175/
Cool! Just a quick look found two of my coins. Not similar examples, but the actual coins! Gordian III provincial with Kabeiros within a temple: Gordian III, AD 238-244. Roman provincial Æ 27 mm, 11.3g, 12h. Macedon, Thessalonica, AD 238-244. Obv: AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓΟΡΔIANOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: ΘЄCCAΛΟΝΙ-ΚЄΩΝ ΝЄΩΚΟ-ΡΩΝ, distyle temple containing Kabeiros standing facing, head left, between two urns containing palm, holding rhyton and hammer. Refs: Touratsoglou 145; Price & Trell 132; Varbanov 4583 var.; Moushmov 6827. And this one of Gordian III and Tranquillina with Nemesis: Gordian III, with Tranquillina, A.D. 238-244. Roman provincial AE 4.5 assaria, 28.92 mm, 15.89 g, 7:00. Moesia Inferior, Tomis, A.D. 241-244. Obv: AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC // [C]ABINIA (TP)AN / KVΛΛINA, confronted laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right and diademed, draped bust of Tranquillina left. Rev: MHTPO ΠONTOV TOMEΩC, Nemesis standing facing, head left, holding arshin (rod) and sling, wheel at feet; Δ - < (denomination) in fields. Refs: AMNG I 3537; Varbanov 5701; Moushmov 2279; Cf. SNG Cop 305.
Me too! Thanks to the database, I've finally managed to find some other examples of this rough but very rare Gordian III bronze of Tyre. It's not published in the standard references, but RPC online shows three other specimens, one in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and two in the Israel Museum. GORDIAN III AE Chalkous. 8.55g, 24.4mm. PHOENCIA, Tyre, AD 238-244. Rouvier -; BMC Phoenicia -; SNG Cop -; RPC Online VII.2, - (unassigned; ID 6533). O: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: COL [TYR] MET / N C F, Temple (of the Phoenician Koinon?) seen in perspective, with star in pediment, steps to right; at right, murex shell.
https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/28109 My favorite is the above. I have shown mine here many times but am still looking for one with the value mark intact before the erasure. The listing says 'most' of these have it present but that has not been my observation. If anyone has this coin with the 4 1/2 intact, I would love to see it. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/f08.html
I have one Roman Provincial coin from the reign of Gordian III -- from Anchialus in Thrace, showing Gordian III & Tranquillina on the obverse and Apollo on the reverse -- and found it rather easily in the new online database: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48961 Here's the description: URI https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48961json ttl rdf xml Volume VII.2 Number — (unassigned; ID 48961) Province Thrace Region Thrace City Anchialus Reign Gordian III Person (obv.) Gordian III (Augustus) ; Tranquillina (Augusta) Issue Gordian and Tranquillina: with ϹΕΒ Obverse inscription ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟⳞ ΑΥΓ ⳞΕΒ ΤΡΑΝΚΥΛΛΙΝΑ Obverse design confronted busts of Gordian III, laureate, draped and cuirassed, r., seen from rear, and Tranquillina, diademed and draped bust, l. Reverse inscription ΟΥΛΠΙΑΝWΝ ΑΓΧΙΑΛΕWΝ Reverse design Apollo standing l., holding patera and resting his l. arm on column Metal Æ Average diameter 27 mm Average weight 12.47 g Axis 6, 7 Reference AMNG 656; Tachev, Anchialos 152-62 External URI(s) https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/types/4791 * Specimens 14 * This link doesn't work. I am completely unfamiliar with the "corpus-nummorum.eu" database -- does any of you know anything about it? As of now, it seems to cover only coins from Moesia inferior, Thrace, Mysia, and Troas from various collections and books. It does include Anchialus, but not this coin, at least at present. *** Here is my own updated description of my example of this coin (see the boldfaced portion), together with photo: Gordian III with wife Tranquillina, AE 26 mm., 241-244 AD, Thracia, Anchialus [Pomorie, Bulgaria]. Obv. Confronted busts of Gordian III right, laureate, draped and cuirassed, and Tranquillina left, draped and wearing stephane; ΑVT Κ M ANT / ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ clockwise around; CEB TPAN // KVΛΛINA in exergue; border of dots/ Rev. Apollo standing left, holding patera in right hand; left arm resting on column; ΟΥΛΠΙΑΝωΝ / ΑΓXΙΑΛEωΝ clockwise around; border of dots. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Online, ID 48961 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48961); Moushmov 2939 [H. Moushmov, Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula (1912)]; Varbanov II 668 [Ivan Varbanov, Greek Imperial Coins And Their Values, Vol. II, Thrace (from Abdera toPautalia) (English Edition) (Bourgas, Bulgaria 2005)]; AMNG II 656 [F. Münzer & M. Strack, Die antiken Münzen von Thrakien, Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands Vol. II (Berlin, 1912)]. 26 mm., 11.91 g.
Great news zumbly, thanks for the heads up. Found one of my coins listed...https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/26680 MACEDON THESSALONICA Tranquillina Bronze. AD 238-244. 26 mm. 12,11 g. Obv: CABINIA TPANKYΛΛΙΝΑ ΑΥΓ. Diademed and draped bust right. Rev: ΘΕCCΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΩΝ NEΩKOPΩN. Tetrastyle temple seen in perspective to left ΠΥΘΙΑ below. Cf. Varbanov 4657. Rare
Great coins, @DonnaML and @Ancient Aussie. I really like the fact that RPC with this database attempts to catalog as many examples of each type as they've been able to find, even the ones in less than sterling condition. My coin below is just 1 of 63 (!) specimens cataloged for its type. GORDIAN III AE34. 20.82g, 34.3mm. CILICIA, Tarsus, circa AD 238-244. SNG France 1667 var. (rev legend); RPC VII.2, - (unassigned; ID 3513). O: AVT KAI M ANTΩNIOC ΓOPΔIANOC CЄB, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; Π – Π in exergue. R: TAPCOV MHTPOΠOΛЄΩ / A M - K Γ B, Hercules standing facing, head left, holding club and apples of the Hesperides; tree to left, from which hangs the carcass of the monstrous serpent Ladon. Being able to look at them all in one place can also be illuminating. For example, there are 20 specimens cataloged for the coin type below. Before seeing them altogether, I didn't realize there were two reverse legend variants - ones ending with ΚA/ΛYK, as on my coin, and others with that part of the city name ΚΑΛΥΚΑΔΝ (Calycadnum) fully spelt out. And even more interesting, almost every example (19 of the 20 coins) bears the "small circle within Δ" countermark on the obverse that mine also has. And where 5 examples also bear a second "ΚΑ in monogram" countermark, the additional countermark on mine is a different one (not exactly sure what it is, at the chin, perhaps a retrograde Є in an incuse circle?). I've no idea why virtually all were countermarked, but it's now provided a new avenue of exploration. GORDIAN III AE Tetrassarion. 15.57g, 30.5mm. CILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum, circa AD 238-244. SNG Levante 764 var. (rev legend). SNG Paris 1011-1012 var. (rev legend); RPC VII.2, - (unassigned; ID 70023). O: ANTΩNIOC ΓOPΔIANOC CЄBATOC (sic!), radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to right, seen from behind; on neck, small circle within Δ countermark (Howgego 670); before bust, uncertain countermark. R: СЄΛЄYΚЄΩΝ TΩ ΠP-OC ΚA/ΛYK, Athena advancing right, holding shield and brandishing spear at the Anguiped (snake-legged giant) Enceladus who raises his arms to throw stones at her.
I've since found that another five of my Gordian III provincials are cataloged in the RPC database, the neatest discovery being that the Anchialus bronze below is also a plate coin for a specialized reference for its city. It's RPC database entry notes that it's illustrated in Yanislav Tachev's The Coinage of Anchialos. GORDIAN III AE25. 6.52g, 25.4mm. THRACE, Anchialus, circa AD 238-244. Varbanov 608 (R5); Tachev, Anchialos 140 (this coin illustrated); RPC VII.2, - (unassigned; ID 48988). O: ΓOPΔIANOC AV KA; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield. R: AΓXIAΛEΩN; Cybele enthroned left between two lions, holding phiale and resting arm on drum.
Another of my coins unpublished in standard references has just been added to RPC online. GORDIAN III. DEULTUM THRACE Gordian III AE23 of Deultum, Thrace. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate draped bust right / COL F L PAC DEVLTVM, diagonal view of front & side of shrine with peaked roof, Unpublished in standard references, RPC VII.2, — (unassigned; ID 73803) this coin.
