I posted this in the LordM tribute thread so I thought that I should also post it here. My first ancient coin purchased for my collection. Now I'll see I get dragged into the new/old avenue of collecting.
If you want attractive Roman silver of decent size and good fineness that doesn't break the bank, Gordian III ants are the way to go.
Agree! but now there is the quest of what comes next and next and...... Is it a denarius, a bronze, something Greek or any of a thousand choices?
Welcome to the Ancients Forum, @beaver96 ! Some call it “Crossing into the dark side.” For me it’s been more like stepping into the sunshine.
Welcome! Good start. Now you need to figure what you want next. Ancient coins offer countless ways to branch out - and most likely you will NOT get bored.
Welcome! We have cookies. At least that's what I've been told. A G3 Ant is a great start! There are so many different ways you can collect ancients. Besides my love for everything Victory/Nike and FFIVN's love for Chinese cash coins, we haven't stayed focused on any one particular thing. Greek silver and bronzes are hanging out next to Roman imperial coins which are mingling with Byzantine, Indian, and Chinese coins. A hodgepodge of history spanning over 2,000 years. Gordian III has so many interesting reverses as well.
Welcome! Here are some more Gordian III's, to continue to show some variety -- two denarii, an antoninianus, and a Roman Provincial coin depicting him with his empress, Tranquillina: Gordian III AR Denarius, 240 AD [TRP III]. Obv. Laureate head right, IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Rev. Gordian on horseback left, holding spear downwards in left hand & raising right hand, PM TR P III COS PP. RIC IV-3 81, RSC IV 234 (ill. p. 7 & on book jacket), Sear RCV III 8678. 18 mm., 3.59 g. Gordian III AR Denarius, 241-242 AD, Rome mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, & cuirassed bust right, IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Rev. Diana standing facing, head right, holding flaming long torch right with both hands, DIANA LVCIFERA. RIC IV-3 127, RSC IV 69, Sear RCV III 8673 (ill.). 20 mm., 2.7 g., 6 h. (Issued in celebration of marriage of Gordian & Tranqullina, 241 AD. See Sear RCV III 8673 at p. 123.) Gordian III AR Antoninianus, 242-243 AD [TRP V], Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Rev. Apollo seated left, bare to waist, holding branch with right hand & resting left forearm and elbow on lyre, PM T-R P V COS II PP. RIC IV-3 89, RSC IV 261, Sear RCV III 8648. 22.65 mm., 4.67 g. 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 Online VII.2 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 to Pautalia) (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.
Congrats on your first ancient! Online Coins of the Roman Empire may be a useful resource to you. Here's the link for your coin RIC 83. I'll add a Roman provincial Gordian III from Cappadocia. Cappadocia, Caesarea, Gordian III (238-244), AE, dated Regnal Year 7 (243/4) Obv: AV KAI M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right Rev: MHTP KAI B N Є / ЄT - Z, six grain ears bundled together
Welcome to the Ancients forum. But I have a bad news for you: it's not a coin you bought. Not at all. Even not a 4.5g metal disc. It's a piece of history: it was hold by a suppostores 1775 years ago, then struck by a malleatores. Perhaps it was used to pay a soldier who was able to feed his family. Before giving this coin to the merchant in exchange for a loaf of bread, he may have wondered if the teenager who is depicted on this coin would reign longer than other members of his family ... maybe the sun-god engraved on the other side of this piece can protect him... Can you imagine in how many hands this coin has been traded over the months and years? Until the day when, 50 years later, a poor farmer with holes in his pockets lost it on his way back from his fields ... This coin then lay dormant for centuries until one young metal detectorist discovered it again, buried under 12 inches of damp earth ... and now it's yours, the new keeper of this milestone of the history of the Roman Empire. Take good care of it!
Welcome to ancients! Everyone can do with a Gordie III... or two, or more. My latest is this neat but gnarly holed fourrée : GORDIAN III Fourrée Antoninianus. 4.74g, 22.0mm. Silver plated contemporary forgery of Rome mint, circa AD 238-244. Cf. Cohen 266; cf. RIC IV, III p. 25, 93. O: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: P M TR P V COS II P P, Gordian, in military dress, standing right, holding transverse spear in right hand and globe in left. Ex Severus Alexander Collection; ex A.K. Collection (Triton XXII, 7 January 2019, part of lot 1151), privately acquired from the Rosche Collection in 1994.
Welcome to Ancients collecting, @beaver96 ! Disregard EVERYONE’s advice, and adhere to only one rule: - Follow Your Passion.
Welcome ! I also started my collection with a Gordian III coin and the rest is history This is my first ancient coin. RIC 6, RSC 383. Gordian III, antoninianus. 22 mm 4,82g. Obv. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right . Rev. VIRTVS AVG, Virtus standing facing in military dress, head left, with shield & spear. Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (January 20, 225 – February 11, 244), known as Gordian III, was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. In Roman mythology, Virtus was the deity of bravery and military strength, the personification of the Roman virtue of virtus.