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Æ29 - Gordian III ΗΡΑΚΛΕΩΤΑΝ ΠΟΝΤΩ
| Issuer | Heraclea Pontica (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 238-244 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse lettering | Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΥΓ (Translation: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus) |
| Reverse description | Heracles, depicted nude and muscular, strides dynamically to the right as he wrestles the Cretan Bull, grasping the animal's horn with both hands and subduing it in a scene referencing his Seventh Labour. The bull is shown rearing and straining against the hero's grip, its body rendered with considerable vigour and movement. In the exergue below, a club and quiver are depicted as attributes of Heracles, referencing the hero's divine status as eponymous patron of Heraclea Pontica. The Greek civic legend is distributed around the field in the border. |
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Heraclea Pontica had a long tradition of civic bronze coinage that outlasted most of its neighbors, and issues under Gordian III represent some of the final emissions before the city's autonomous coinage effectively ceased. The city's foundational mythology — its connection to Heracles and the entrance to the underworld at the nearby Acheron — fed directly into its mint's iconographic choices across centuries of production.
The Aulock references 6961–6962 suggest at least two documented die pairings for this type, a detail worth noting for anyone working through the series systematically.