I have this Gordian III AE24, which certainly seems like an as to me. However, the only coin with this FELICIT TEMPOR reverse is described on Wildwinds as a sestertius. I can't imagine any sestertius being only 24mm, so do I simply have an as that isn't listed on WW?
FELICIT TEMPOR is a scarce type on asses: Bland found only three specimens in his visits to the major public collections, namely in BM, Vienna, and Paris. So it's not surprising that Wildwinds hasn't recorded one yet.
yeah, so not the sestertius. was my numista link correct? I didn't look through every listing I just saw it and thought it fit.
Looks perfect! I cross-checked the RIC number on Numista, 328B, and it shows as a sestertius. I suspect this might be one of those double-listed RIC coins where two denominations share the same ric number, with an alphabetic variation.
Cool I like Gordian III and I think I had the chance to get one of these. I didn't a got a sestertius but not this reverse
Yes, Numista illustrates the BM specimen of this As, one of the 3 that Bland recorded. The RIC numbers are 328a for the sestertius, 328b for the As, and 328c for the even rarer dupondius. The typesetter, however, left out (b) for the As in the column for catalogue numbers.
Thanks fir the help everyone. I wasn’t expecting this to be such a rare type. the awful patina is unfortunate, but for $7 in a group lot I guess I shouldn’t complain
Your best online bet for identifying Roman coins is OCRE - you'll find this here: http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.gor_iii.328 Asses and sestertii are listed together here - as Curtis says, the (b) sub-type was missed - there's a separate entry for 238C on OCRE. Anyway, the BM correctly lists the light ones as RIC 328b and asses - a link from the OCRE page to a 10g example: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-3783 ATB, Aidan.
The OP here was pretty useless without a weight. Gordian III asses I have seen tend to be close to 10g. Also, the flan preparation process often seems to be 'different' with asses being rounder and tapered edge while sestertii are more squared off and often look clipped. These are my gut feeling/observations and not the result of a careful study. Someone planning a lifetime study of these can address this and see if it is reasonable. I only have two GIII asses, 11.5 and 10.88g (the second hardly counts due to the overstrike). Sestertii: 20.2 and 16.8g. Are sestertii 10-20 times as common as asses? It looks that way to me but again this is not a scientific study. Can someone show asses with the clipped, squared look?
