I think I have Gordian III fever!

When Pish showed off her awesome Gordian III Antoninianus example here a little while back, I knew I had to get one.
And get one I did.
Most importantly, it was super cheap!

"Gordian III, AR Antoninianus, January 1, 240-March (?) 240, Third Issue, Rome
IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG
Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
P M TR P II COS P P
Gordian, veiled, standing facing, head left, wand in left hand, patera in right and sacrificing over lit altar at left"


So we all know that Gordian III silvers are common as dirt, but why?
My personal theory is that Gordian III used these coins to pay the army after Maximinus Thrax doubled Legionary pay to 1800 Denarii (plus donatives and other gifts). Another idea is perhaps the cash strapped government of Gordian III needed a large amount of money to pay off debts from the civil war of 238 CE?
All your theories are more than welcome!
Show us your Gordians!!

 

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a nice ant MM...and i love a bargain bin score.

as common as this guys coins are, i don't have many at all. here's my fav..

 

Wow! That is a nice tetradrachm, Chris.
I think Gordian III is tied with Magnus Maximus for the number 2 spot of "most coins from one Emperor that I own." Number one is of course Constantius II with his little Fallen Horsemen series

 

Nice coins you guys and a super score MM.

 

Very nice coins Bing! I really like that Drachm!

 

yuppers, Gordian bug bit me....

 

Looks like some nice coins ken

 

Holy hell! Those are some nice coins!
I may need a good Siliqua to calm down my Gordian fever!

 

Gordian III Æ Sestertius. 240 AD. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / P M TR P III COS P P, SC in ex, emperor seated left holding globe & scepter. Cohen 231. RIC 294a

I won this in a contest on another forum a while back by identifying an almost-unique bronze coin and this was my first nicer Roman and still one of my favorites because it's so chunky. I have one Gordian III ant but it's ugly and a Gordian III provincial bronze with Serapis but it is quite ugly as well.

 

I live in what was a roman town in 1930 a new store was built while digging the foundations bowls of roman coins were found mostly Gordian 111,the official figure was 28,000 but the building workers filled their pockets and anyone passing helped them selves.the coins were believed to have been collected by a shop keeper over a thirty year period,he saved only the best he could find.this hoard alone is partly responsible for the large number of Gordian coins in circulation today..the price of a pint of beer at the time in my town was one roman coin

 

Very nice collection. Keep building.

 

Wonderful examples all...

My denarius of Gordianus...others of a 'baser' metal are forthcoming..

It is amazing how many coins, especially denarii, are available all the time at such great prices in such fantastic condition..

 

A beautiful coin but it's cracked.

 

Little cracks like that don't bother us ancient types. Those were likely created when the coin was struck, probably due to an uneven alloy mix or uneven annealing, and as such are not considered damage.

 

I have a few but I did wonder. Thanks for the explanation.

 

If I recall correctly some years ago a huge hoard of coins in amphorae were uncovered in Britain by a guy with a metal detector. It was said to be a soldiers' payroll which never got there and under British treasure trove Law they were released onto the market.

 

Are we doing Gordian III again? Fine with me.



I would like to add a few denarii and a couple of provincials to this set. Imperial aes smaller than a sestertius are really tough for Gordian III - you can find them, but they're usually in awful shape.

 

I just did some quick math.
At the time of Septimius Severus there were around 500,000 men , including Praetorian, Marine, and Auxillaries.
Praetorians received doubled what a Legionary did; so 2 x 1800= 3600. At the time of Severus there were around 15,000 of them, and it is unlikely that it had changed substantially by Gordian's time.
So 3600 x 15,000 =54,000,000 Denarii or 27,000,000 Antoninanii a year.
The Auxiliares and Marines usually made much less than an average Legionary so I am not gong to count them for sake of convenience.
The Legio- Arround 182,000 strong by Severus's day. I would guess that they were somewhere around this figure, perhaps a little lower or higher.
So 1800 x 182,000 = 327,600,000 Denarii or 163,800,000 Antoninanii a year for the entire Legion's salaries.

Now many of the coins used to pay the Legions were probably minted by Gordian's predecessors but still, this would help to explain his massive output of Silver coins under his reign. Again I did not count the Auxillaries or Marines or the additional bonuses that the Legions constantly received at this time.

 

Very nice coins shown so far!

 

Something different and a favorite of mine.


Gordian III (238 - 244 A.D.)
AR Tetradrachm
Syria, Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch
O: AVTOK K M ANT GORDIANOC CEB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
R: DHMAPX EX UPATO B, eagle standing facing, head left with wreath in beak, below, crescent & ram running left.
Antioch Mint, Struck 242 A.D.
27mm
13.5g
Prieur 301