Ancient Coin Show and Tell: Gordian III Silver Denarius (238-244 AD)

At the National Money Show in Portland this year, I saw this coin at a ancient dealer's table and decided to buy it for $50. To me, the historical value of this coin is much more than every one of the 5000 pennies it cost. The Ancient Romans probably used this coin in one way or another. A few planchet cracks, but in pretty good condition. What do you think of the coin?

 

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Overpaid, he's the most common silver roman you can buy and it looks like it's overcleaned, BUT it could be the photos.

Also the denomination for this particular coin is a Antoninianus, a double denarius.

But if your happy then thats all that matters. You didnt overpay too much for what he can go for.

 

Meh, this is one of my favorite coins in my collection and it's nice to have around. It's mostly the historical value that really matters.

 

Mat said it. You overpaid, but it's what you like regardless of value. As a Roman coin collector, I most, if not all, the coins from this era are historically valuable. Yours is no less so because there are an abundance of them. Nice coin. Do you collect Ancients or was this just a whim?

 

It's just an ancient mixed in with my US collection. What would this go for at auction anyway? Gordian III, Standing Latetia rev.

 

With better photos, maybe $35. With those photos, a bit less.

 

Nice looking Gordy-III

=> oh, and "welcome"

Here is a link showing a handful of examples ...

https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?PAGE_NUM=&PAGE=1&TABS_TYPE=2&CONTAINER_TYPE_ID=1&IS_ADVANCED=1&ITEM_DESC=Gordian III denarius laet&ITEM_IS_SOLD=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_1=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1

Ummm, but those CNG examples are pretty sweet ... your example is probably pretty close to what you paid for it?

 

Compared to those, the planchet on mine isn't fully formed, which would explain the lowered price

 

Oh, and here is another data-point for you to compare your new baby against ...

https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...cords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False

 

I think my planchet is deformed like that because of the ancient coin making process, where the coin makers would roll metal into circular discs and then stamp them with a hammer.

 

exactly => all of the planchets (flans) are deformed for that reason ... but the trick is to buy the ones that had nice big full-flans and therefore had all of the bells and whistles on 'em ...

Your coin is fine ...... curious, are you going to buy more, or go back to collecting US coins? (good luck either way, my young coin friend)

 

Welcome to ancients, @Omegaraptor ! I hope you buy more of them

I agree with Mat-- you paid a bit much but in the scheme of things, it wasn't terrible. Antoniniani of Gordian III are abundant and readily available in high grade.

Another good place to check for comparisons for your particular coin would be in eBay's sold archives.

 

gawd, you guys are cheap => sending this poor kid out into the e-bay waters all alone to fight the sharks!! (that's cold, my friends ... brrrr)



Omegaraptor => make sure that you run your next choice by one/all of us here at CT and we'll give you some helpful advice (oh, and we won't poach your coin)

 

I should clarify. I'm not advising him to buy ancient coins on eBay-- just recommending that he use it to check prices for comparable coins.

Omegaraptor-- stay away from eBay if you are going to buy more ancient coins! There are a huge number of fakes and bad deals there. It's dangerous enough for more experienced collectors. For a newbie, it can be disastrous.

 

=> reap the benefits of our "pack mentality"

 

If all he goes for is Greek and early Roman silver then yeah it can be a minefield of fakes but if he mainly stays with common later Roman bronze or antoniniani (or even just stuff that isn't hugely popular) then it will be safer for him. Education is still important of course and if the OP buys from 99-100% positive reputable sellers then he should be ok on eBay.

 

If you plan on buying more, stay away from Ebay for now or least check with this forum before you buy. Good luck.

 

I bought this silver at a coin show.

Took it out of the flip to get better pictures.

 

The average modern collector would never buy an even slightly cleaned coin but so many come to ancients and hear that all coins are cleaned (true) so they accept something harshly cleaned and polished. There is a difference between washing away the dirt and scrubbing with a wire brush. Properly cleaned and pleasantly surfaced, the price for this would not be bad. As it is, you did overpay by quite a bit. Below is a Gordian antoninianus I would consider worth a bit over $50 due to the fact that it was not treated harshly in cleaning. Just as with moderns, surfaces matter. The 'rules' are different but not completely different.


Gordian is unusual in that he issued more antoniniani (doubles) than single denarii so the larger coin is easier to find cheap. The sign is the radiate crown on the double. Below is a laureate head on a single denarius.

 

welcome omegaraptor!

i don't have a different opinion than anyone else, but vcoins would be a nice place to do some shopping for you next ancient.