Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 7 24-25 Oct 2020
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UNCERTAIN. Gordian III, with Tranquillina, 238-244. Uniface Plaquette (Orichalcum, 40x32 mm, 4.52 g), 241-244. AY•K•M•ANT•ΓOPΔIANOC / CEB / K•Φ TPANKYΛΛЄ/INA / CAB CЄB Laureate and draped bust of Gordian III, on the left, facing draped bust of Tranquillina, on the right; all incuse. Rev. Blank. A curious and very interesting item. Two thin flan cracks, otherwise, good very fine.
What exactly this odd piece was made for is unclear: it shows an incuse image of Gordian III and his wife Tranquillina, surrounded by a curious legend starting in retrograde script on the emperor's name before taking some odd turns and ending regularly on the empress's titulature. The imagery is reminiscent of Roman Provincial coins from Thrace and Moesia Inferior, but such double portraits of Gordian and his wife also appear in Cilicia and Mesopotamia and thus an attribution to a specific region would be purely speculative.
What exactly this odd piece was made for is unclear: it shows an incuse image of Gordian III and his wife Tranquillina, surrounded by a curious legend starting in retrograde script on the emperor's name before taking some odd turns and ending regularly on the empress's titulature. The imagery is reminiscent of Roman Provincial coins from Thrace and Moesia Inferior, but such double portraits of Gordian and his wife also appear in Cilicia and Mesopotamia and thus an attribution to a specific region would be purely speculative.