Æ26 - Gordian III COL IVL AVG PELLA

Pella had been the royal capital of Macedon — birthplace of Alexander the Great — before Rome refounded it as a Latin colony in 167 BC, one of the earliest such foundations in the Greek world. By Gordian III's reign, the city's colonial identity was jealously maintained in its coinage, the full colonial title spelled out with a specificity that distinguishes Pellan bronzes from the looser civic issues of neighboring Macedonian towns.

Gordian III became emperor at thirteen, and the provincial mint output from his earliest regnal years, 238–239, reflects the administrative scramble following the chaotic Year of the Six Emperors.