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Pentassaria - Gordian III
| Issuer | Marcianopolis |
|---|---|
| Year | 238-244 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟΣ ΑΥΓ (Translation: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus) |
| Reverse description | Ares, the god of war, depicted standing left, nude save for a helmet, holding a spear in his right hand and resting his left hand on a grounded shield. The reverse legend ΥΠ ΜΝΟΦΙΛΟΥ ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ (Under the governor Mnofilous, of the Marcianopolitans) is distributed in three lines around the field, with the mark of value E (denoting 5 assaria) positioned in the lower field. The rendering follows the conventional provincial bronze style of the Severan and post-Severan period in Lower Moesia. |
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| Additional information |
Marcianopolis, the administrative capital of Moesia Inferior, was one of the most prolific civic minting centers in the Roman Balkans, and its output under Gordian III was exceptional in volume. The city had issued coins under the authority of its governor — the legatus — since the Severan period, and the pentassaria denomination represented the heaviest bronze struck locally, essentially functioning as a regional substitute for the imperial antoninianus in daily commerce along the Danube frontier.
Gordian III came to power at thirteen following the murder of Pupienus and Balbinus, both of whom also appear in Marcianopolitan civic coinage from 238, making that single year unusually dense with portrait types from this mint.