Another Gordian and Tranquillina marriage issue

As you know, I like these marriage issues of Gordian III and Tranquillina. This one is an architectural issue, too. From what I can tell, it looks like all of these were produced from a single pair of dies.

Post anything you feel is relevant!


Gordian III, AD 238-244 and Tranquillina.
Roman provincial Æ pentassarion, 11.40 g, 25.8, 7 h mm.
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, legate Tertullius, AD 243-244.
Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ CЄ ΤΡΑΝΚVΛ-ΛЄΙΝΑ, confronted draped busts of Gordian III and Tranquillina.
Rev: VΠ TEPTVΛΛIA-NOV MAPKIANO-ΠOΛEIT-ΩN, Tyche Soteiros (Fortuna Redux), wearing kalathos, holding rudder and cornucopia, standing left within tetrastyle temple with • in pediment; E (mark of value) to left.
Refs: AMNG (Pick) 1192; Moushmov 841; H&J 6.38.46.2 (R6, same dies); Varbanov 2057 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 261; SNG Budapest--.

 

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Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with Gordie ants, so I don't have any marriage issue, but I'll re-post my latest ant.

Nice coin. Those marriage issues are a real beauty. Maybe I'll pick one or two up before the year is out.

 

I have this provincial from Moesia Inferior...

 

Very nice coin with lots of detail on the temple.

 

Nice one, RC!

 

Tranqy-Baby


RI Prv Thrace Deultum Tranquillina 241-244 CE Æ 22mm 6.6 g Hermes purse caduceus SNG Bulgaria 1504-8

 

That coin has a lovely patina and it's a nice example, with a lot of eye-appeal, @ancient coin hunter . It's actually from Moesia SUPERIOR, from the Roman colony of Viminacium. I have a similar one. I'm guessing yours is large, about 29 mm, because yours has the laureate bust.

Mine has a radiate crown and is smaller in diameter (22 mm). This suggests yours is a sestertius and mine a dupondius, but the relationship between provincial denominations and imperial ones has not been definitively established.

The bull and the lion are the emblems of Legions VII and IV, which were quartered in the province.


Gordian III, AD 238-244.
Roman provincial Æ 22.8 mm, 7.83 g.
Moesia Superior, Viminacium, AD 242/3.
Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: P M S C-OL VIM, Moesia standing facing, head left, extending hands to bull and lion standing at her feet on either side, AN IIII (year 4 = AD 242/3) in exergue.
Refs: H&J, Viminacium, 15; AMNG I 84; Varbanov 119; BMC --.

 

Thanks @Roman Collector - it is an unclean hoard coin so I guess I failed to attribute it properly.

 

Also, I don't have a Tranquillina jugate bust type but I do have one from Singara, Mesopotamia...

 

Thank you for showing the beautiful coins.

This period of Roman history (Third Century of Crisis or the Age of Chaos) is both the most unstable as well as the least documented. It is also my favorite.

I'm enjoying this book on Maximinus Thrax right now:



Why is Maximinus Thrax relevant to this thread? I'll quote Wikipedia on this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_III

Fast forward to Gordian III:



Then, one finds his fine wife Tranquillina:



(My visitor, but not my pictures)

 

Thanks for the post @Bart9349 ! I find this period of history fascinating but the source material is rather thin. We just have the Historia Augusta and Herodian, so the coins of the period are quite helpful in reconstructing some of the historical record.

 

I've often wondered just where the misconception that these types are 'marriage issues' first originated.

 

I assumed the term "marriage issue" means a coin showing emperor and his wife on one coin, usually both on the same side of the coin. Is this wrong?

 

Marriage issues are event specific, typically just the empress with a Venus reverse. These provincial types are region specific and have nothing to do with marriage. Combinations of these types are usually father/son, husband/wife, mother/son, grandmother/grandson, etc.

 

Thanks, I didn't know that.

 

For many rulers, it's true the coins simply bear the images of two people. However, for Gordian III specifically, prior to his marriage to Tranquillina, he appeared with Serapis on these two-bust issues. When he got married to Tranquillina and she was elevated to the rank of Augusta, she appeared in tandem with him. So, the marriage marks the event that triggered this change in iconography, hence some numismatists call them marriage issues.