Nomos 37

Gordian I, 238. Denarius (Silver, 20 mm, 3.56 g, 12 h), Rome, 1. - 22. April 238. IMP M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian I to right. Rev. ROMAE AETERNAE Roma, helmeted and draped, seated to left on shield, holding Victory in extended right hand and sceptre in her left. BMC 8 (same dies). Cohen 8. RIC 4. Toned, with a fine portrait and struck on a broad flan. Minor marks, otherwise, extremely fine.

From the collection of Dr. Hermann Lanz in Graz, acquired from Münzen und Medaillen 7, 3 December 1948, 643 for 180 CHF.

As is well-known, severe dissatisfaction with Maximinus I, on the part of the Senate and upper classes in Rome, led to an elaborate plot to make one of their own, the aristocratic and elderly Gordian I, then proconsular governor of Africa Proconsularis, the new emperor. All went well for a short while, Gordian associating his son Gordian II with him as military commander, but the governor of neighboring Numidia defeated and killed Gordian II in battle, and Gordian I committed suicide. The actual reign lasted for three weeks, and both emperors were in Africa, so how did the mint in Rome manage to produce a quite considerable coinage (though one that is very rare today)? The only explanation is that the revolt had been long in planning, and the conspirators ordered coins to be struck in secret so that donatives could be made as soon as the new emperors had been proclaimed.

Alan Walker Newsletter 22/8/2025:
The denarii of the short-lived emperors Gordian I and II (this piece, lot 244, is of Gordian I, est. 3000 CHF) were for centuries one of the great rarities of Roman Imperial coinage; if you turn to your copy of the 2nd edition of Cohen of c. 1890, you will find them valued at 300 Fr (compared to those of Gordian III, which are mostly 3 Fr or less). When this coin was sold in Basel in Münzen und Medaillen VII in 1948 it had an estimate of 200 CHF, was rated Very Rare, was graded FDC, and was sold for 180 to Dr. Hermann Lanz in Graz (virtually no other Roman Imperial silver coins were in the sale - their value was thought to be too low to be included - there was mainly AV and AES). In short, it was infinitely more valuable than what might be termed normal Roman denarii (it sold for much more than the two excellent portrait denarii of Caesar in the 1948 sale, and for only 5 Fr less than the even rarer denarius of Augustus and Agrippa). Even though denarii of Gordian I & II have become somewhat more common over the past generation - thanks to a number of major dispersed finds in the Balkans and Asia Minor - they remain in great demand, especially when they are both well-struck and have such a fine portrait.