Just acquired a nice Roman Coin; SILVER ANTONINIANUS OF GORDIAN III FROM 238 - 244 AD. GORDIAN WAS MADE EMPEROR AT AGE 13, AND DIED IN BATTLE AT AGE 19. Size is 21.3 mm and 4.88 grams. Sear 8615 OBVERSE – IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG Radiate, draped bust, right REVERSE – IOVI STATORI Jupiter standing right with scepter & thunderbolt. EMPEROR Marcus Antonius Gordianus (January 20 225 – February 11, 244), known in English as Gordian III, was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Marcus Antonius Gordianus' mother was the daughter of Gordian I and the sister of Gordian II. This made him the grandson and nephew of the two Gordian emperors. His younger sister was called Gordiana. Gordian had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238. I am very excited to own a Roman Coin and a very nice detailed coin at that. So many Roman coins on ebay were very worn and the images hard to make out. I was apprehensive about bidding on Roman coins but the seller is said to be a life member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), and he has a 100% positive rating with over 15,000 feedback. Collecting coins has prodded me to learn more about the history of the world we live.
I am glad to see your choice of a first coin. Too often, we hear reports of people starting with very ugly coins they will later regret or insisting on rarities that quite honestly they are not in a position to appreciate beyond the matter of market value. I would be interested in hearing what it was about this coin that made it stand out in your mind and what considerations you might have that will guide your selection of #2 and #3....... perhaps #3000? I am a general collector of just about anything ancient but, looking at all my coins, it is obvious I have been attracted to some specialties more than others. Some of those specialties are easy to put in words (Eastern mint denarii of Septimius Severus) while others are just coins that spoke to me at the time. We have people here who would expect your next coin to be another Gordian and others that would suggest you might want something as far from Gordian as you can get. How do you see this? Welcome.
It was by far the detail of the coin that attracted me. Also the fact it was a Roman coin. I am from German descent and my wife Roman descent. As for my next coin, I would like to get a coin perhaps in the Roman Republic era.
From another fairly new ancient collector, Welcome to the Dark Side.... Looks like a very nice coin to be starting out with.
Welcome to your new hobby and congratulations on a fantastic first ancient coin! Coins of Gordian III generally give a lot of bang for the buck. Yours has marvelous detail.
@Silver Eagle , welcome! CoinTalk has had many good threads for beginners. I recommend you read this FAQ site: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/ and browse old (or current) CT threads like: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/learning-about-ancient-coins.323737/#post-3192010 In a thread like this one: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/fo...cient-edition-post-‘em-if-you-got-‘em.300099/ you can see hundreds (really) of types from themes that are interesting.
Good going. I kindly advise you to buy silver tetradrachms since you like the feel of money ( Who doesn't? ).Too Many of them have an eagle on reverse. Remember always that Condition of coins stands way beyond Rarity itself. And And.. Und.. seien Sie willikommen.. Cheers.
Welcome to the awesome (dark) side of coin collection. A Gordian is a fine starting point. I recently acquired one myself (after the good folk at CT wouldn't let me buy a crappy Valerian I Antoninianus *shakes fist*): May I also recommend Roman Empire Denarius coins between around 120 AD and 200 AD. Some real bargains to be picked up, at low low prices. Happy collecting! AC
@Silver Eagle great first Roman - welcome to ancient coins and congratulations on an excellent first coin! As a fan of roman republican coins, I can fully support your plan for "next coin". I also share your interest in coins as a window to history. Your Gordian IOVI STATORI is a revival of a type, first issued 100 years earlier by Antoninus Pius in AD 140-144. Gordian and Timisitheus, his father-in law and praetorian prefect, left Rome for the campaign against Persia in January 241. From RIC IViii p10: “Jupiter Stator is invoked to stay the Roman armies, hard pressed by the Persians”. Here's another coin from about the same time period from the mint at Antioch: Gordian III AR Antoninianus Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG - Radiate bust right, cuirassed. Rev: ORIENS AVG - Sol standing left, right hand raised in salute and left hand holding out a globe. Mint: Antioch AD 243-244 Size: 4.97g 22.5mm Ref: RIC IViii, 213 IOVI STATORI appears on the coins of 9 emperors:Antoninus Pius, Severus Alexander, Gordianus III, Valerianus, Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelianus, Florianus, Probus. As Jupiter Stator is the god who averts panic and defeat and there were perhaps many occasions for emperors to invoke stabilizing support from Jupiter during the 3rd century AD.
That is a lovely coin, @Silver Eagle ! Gordian III was an interesting fellow. While I have imperial issues of his, let me show you some provincial coins I think are interesting: Gordian III and Tranquillina. Roman provincial AE 25.8 mm, 11.44 g. Thrace, Mesembria, AD 241. Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ CΕΒ-ΤΡΑΝΚVΛΛΙΝ[Α], laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian and draped bust of Tranquillina, wearing stephane, confronted. Rev: ΜΕCΑΜΒΡΙΑΝΩΝ, Apollo in long robe, standing left, holding plectrum in outstretched right hand and resting left on lyre set on column. Refs: Moushmov 3998; Varbanov 4175-4176. Gordian III, AD 238-244. Roman provincial Æ tetrassarion, 9.53 g, 24.2 mm, 1 h. Thrace, Hadrianopolis, AD 238-244. Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: AΔPIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Artemis standing left, holding patera and bow; stag at side. Refs: BMC 30; Moushmov 2685; Varbanov 3888; Jurukova 476; SNG Cop --; Lindgren --; GIC --. Notes: Obverse die match to Varbanov plate coin.
What a good start ! Better to start with a beautiful common coin, you will cherish it for a long time Welcome to the darkside Q
Great links thanks. To all, thanks for the replies and pictures from your own collection...….good stuff.
A very handsome coin. I am most impressed how you are so immediately driven to the history. That , my friend, is a sign that you have caught the bug that afflicts the rest of us!
Hard to go wrong with a beautiful coin like that for your first acquisition. Congratulations, and welcome to a fascinating new hobby. You will learn a lot of ancient history along the way.
After yesterday's Willimantic, CT coin show, I am also now a Roman collector. I won't embarrass myself with communicating my lack of knowledge on the subject, or lousy cellphone pictures of what I bought.....I simply bought what I liked! 1. Lucilla denarius 2. Marcus Aurelius denarius (I like the emperor) 3. Caracalla antoninianus 4. Commodus denarius 5. Julia Domina denarius 6. A beautifully blue toned 1909 VDB Lincoln.....lol All appear vf, a couple of weakly struck reverses. Now, knowing nearly nothing of Roman coinage, I am in the dazed and confused stage of roman coinage knowledge! I think it's pretty cool owning ancients.....rare by modern standards, with history! Who knows? They could have been used to bet on gladatorial matches, could have been carried by legionnaires in battle, etc. and with the added plus of the prices not being jacked up by TPG's and investment concerns like so many of the US coins I've been collecting for 50 years.... I feel like I have turned into the "dark alley" of coin collecting.