Them roaches are multiplying

I swear these breed like bunnies. You start with one and before you know it there is another, and another, and another, etc. I tried bug spray, but that did not seem to do the trick.

Gordian III, AD 238-244
AR Antoninianus 23mm, 4.5g, 12h; Rome mint, AD 238.
Obv.: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG; Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: PAX AVGVSTI; Pax standing front, head left, holding branch up in right hand and transverse scepter in left.
Reference: RIC IVc 3, p. 16.

Pax seems like an ironic theme, considering the Roman Empire had peace in short supply. Gordian himself died on a campaign, either murdered by his troops or by the Sassanids in battle. Given that his successor Philip the Arab transported Gordian III's body to Rome for burial, built a monument for him along the way, and arranged for Gordian III's deification, I don't quite buy the idea that Philip I murdered him. Doesn't make any sense. So yeah, Gordian III probably died in battle. So much for the peace of Rome theme being portrayed on this coin, which no doubt alluded to a more tranquil past a century before.

Gordian III, AD 238-244
AR Antoninianus, 23mm, 4.6g, 6h; Rome, AD 239-240.
Obv.: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG; Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: LIBERALITAS AVG II; Liberalitas standing half-left, holding abacus and double cornucopia.
Reference: RIC IVc 36, p. 119.

The reverse of Liberalitas on this Gordian III Antoninianus commemorates a gift of money given by the young emperor to his troops, which was basically a bribe to keep your loyal troops from accidentally plunging a knife into your back, or slitting your throat. It appears that the Praetorian Guards, and increasingly the legions themselves, were very accident prone with their emperors, but emperors soon caught on to the fact that the more bribe money "donatives" that they gave to their soldiers, the lesser these accidental stabbings and slitting of throats seemed to happen.

Probably didn't help Gordian III much though, as he was either stabbed by his troops, or his troops failed to adequately protect him and he was killed in battle against the might of the Sasanian Empire. I love the possibility that this coin itself might have been carried by a legionnaire tasked with protecting the emperor during the battle, and when faced with dozens of Sassanid troops encircling them, probably shoved the Emperor at them and galloped away screaming "Should have given me 100 coins, you cheapskate. I ain't saving your butt and risking mine for 75."

MY OTHER ROACHES




See, them roaches breed like crazy. I need me a dozen volunteers to toss bug bombs at my collection to see if we can make a dent on this roach infestation. I'm not going to lie, it's a dangerous mission and some of you may not come back. But your country will always remember your sacrifice.

 

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Folks, consider this a Public Service Announcement...beware of the bad roaches. You ain't seen mean roaches until your collection starts getting swarmed by Gordies.




HONORARY MENTIONS (IE. Gordian III non-roaches)

Even the non-roach Gordian III are a problem. Rumors have it that a few more will be arriving soon, so it won't be two for much longer.

 

That's quite a gaggle of Gordians ya got there @Sallent

 

One out of six Roman coins in my collection is a Gordian III, yet I'm still on the lookout for more of his coins.

I'm like the Crazy Cat Lady



Except I hoard Gordian III coins instead of cats. LOL. At least the Gordies don't shed hair or scratch the furniture.

 

LOL, congrats on expanding your GIII Empire!

A gaggle of gordies is right.

I am keeping my gaggle at a steady 1 in the pen... However, GI and GII are on my target list...


RI Gordian III 238-244 CE AE As 25mm Hercules S-C

 

Nice set, love that scene from family guy, still cracks me up.

 

I only have a minor 'infestation'....sort of a 'shake a stick' at kind of problem



And a few non-roaches ....

 

Nice addition @Sallent
I haven't added any in a little while but here's a few of mine.
View attachment 671543

 

The spawning ground. Every time you look at your coin spot there's more!

 

I only have a minor infestation. I've been pretty successful by monthly spraying the perimeter of the house.

 

Nice Gordonians all! One of his ants was my first Roman silver. Still have it. I am sure someone could make a large, high grade collection of his coins.

 

I have one with Laetitia on the reverse. Kinda overpaid for it (it was my first and currently my only Roman silver) but I love it nontheless.

 

Yeah, you want to be careful not to overpay for Gordian III. Lots of unscrupulous dealers try to get newbies that way, especially eBay. For my first 10 coins on this thread (the denarii and antoninianii) I paid an average of $62.50 per coin...and all are in XF or AU. The individual actual price per coin is as low as $35 for some of them, but the denarii tend to be a little more expensive as they are not as common, so that definitely affects the overall price per coin average.

That's not to say there aren't some properly rare silver coins for Gordian III, because there are, and those will be priced accordingly.

Another budget area are many of his common sestertii and also many of his provincial issues. Some provincial coinage in VF grade can run you as little as $20, though he also does have some rarer issues that will be priced accordingly.

But overal, yes, lots of bargains to be had on coins of Gordian III in VF and XF condition, which is part of the reason I like collecting his stuff so much, though that's probably the reason most people really don't bother going after his coins.

 

Business cards? LOL

 

Sweet, if we ever create a Gordian III Fan Club here, you'll definitely be commissioned to do our logo/signature banner.

Any chance you'll still do a little banner or a membership card for the Cointalk Ancients Bottom Feeders Club? Please!

 

Yes, I'll whip up something.

 

I'm going to have to update this picture. I only took it 4 months ago, but I've added 3 silver roaches since then. I try to keep up, but they just keep on piling so fast.

Come to think of it, I may want to do better photography for some of them, as they are not as dark as some of the pictures suggest (and you can see that in this photo too).

 

I know the feeling. Somehow I ended up with 78 coins of Faustina Junior. They breed, apparently.

 

I only have 2 Gordian III ants, and that pretty much takes them off my list unless I run across an offer to good to refuse. So I probably will not get any more in the near future (now that I said that I'll probably end up with 4 more this year).

Here's my favorite.




Gordian III, AR Antoninianus, 241 AD

O: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG ,Radiate bust right, draped and cuirassed, R: PM TR P IIII COS II PP - Emperor standing right, holding a spear and a globe. Rome mint. RIC 92, 24 mm, 4.1g.

 

For me, it's the Gordy and Tranquillina provincial marriage issues that multiply!