Æ27 - Gordian III and Tranquillina Anchialus

Anchialus, a Black Sea coastal city in Thrace, was among the more prolific provincial mints under Gordian III, and the paired portrait issues featuring his empress Tranquillina are the rarest category within that output. Tranquillina married Gordian in 241 AD — the same year her father Timesitheus was appointed Praetorian prefect, effectively becoming the administrative power behind a teenage emperor. The marriage and the coinage advertising it were political instruments as much as anything else.

Gordian III died in 244, under circumstances still disputed — Roman sources blame illness, while a later inscription from Misiche credits Shapur I with killing him in battle.