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Æ30 - Gordian III ΕΠΙ ΔΗΜΟΝΕΙΚΟΥ ΜΑΓΝΗΤΩΝ
| Issuer | Magnesia ad Maeandrum (Conventus of Miletus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 238-244 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Selene, the lunar goddess, stands erect in a biga drawn by two bulls moving to the left, holding the reins in both hands; she is depicted wearing a long flowing garment with a crescent visible above her head, consistent with her divine lunar attributes. The composition conveys dynamic movement, with the bulls rendered in vigorous stride and the goddess shown in profile. The scene is a celebrated type for Magnesia ad Maeandrum, referencing the city's mythological association with Selene. A two-line Greek legend naming the local magistrate and the civic ethnic frames the reverse field, enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Magnesia ad Maeandrum sat in the Maeander river valley of Lydia, a city that had spent centuries negotiating its identity between Greek civic pride and Roman administrative reality. By Gordian III's reign, the right to strike bronze coinage was a municipal privilege jealously maintained — the magistrate name ΔΗΜΟΝΕΙΚΟC embedded in the legend was not ceremonial filler but a civic official directly accountable for the issue's production and quality.
The reference VII.1#532.1 places this within the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum framework for Ionian civic bronzes, a series where die-linkage studies have repeatedly shown that individual magistrate issues were often struck in short, concentrated runs rather than sustained production.