Æ27 - Gordian III ΟΔΗϹϹΕΙΤΩΝ, Ε

Odessos — modern Varna on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast — was one of the more prolific civic minting authorities under the Severan and Gordian dynasties, producing a remarkable range of bronze denominations for local circulation. The Ε in the inscription almost certainly denotes a denomination mark within the city's own internal tariff system, a practice attested at several Moesian and Thracian cities during the third century but still not fully understood in its mechanics.

Gordian III's reign saw an explosion of provincial civic coinage across the eastern empire as Rome's own silver coinage deteriorated sharply following the antoninianus reforms of Caracalla.