Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Triton XXV 11-12 Jan 2022
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Gordian III. AD 238-244. AV Aureus (19mm, 4.97 g, 12h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 8th-11th emission, AD 240-243. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / AETER N ITATI AVG, Sol Invictus, radiate, naked except for cloak over shoulders and left arm, raising right hand and holding globe in left hand. RIC IV 97; Calicó 3186a var. (break in rev. legend); cf. Hunter 41. Well struck and lustrous. In NGC encapsulation 6066349-061, graded MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5.
Ex Paramount Collection (Heritage 3096, 25 March 2021), lot 30061 (hammer $20,000).
The Roman god Sol began appearing on coins in the Republican period. By the later second century AD he had acquired the epithet Invictus (Unconquered), and during the Severan dynasty his worship became hugely popular in the Roman Legions, both independently and as part of the cult of Mithras. Gordian III's use of Sol's image on this aureus probably evokes the upcoming campaign against Persia in the East, where the Mithraic cult originated.
Ex Paramount Collection (Heritage 3096, 25 March 2021), lot 30061 (hammer $20,000).
The Roman god Sol began appearing on coins in the Republican period. By the later second century AD he had acquired the epithet Invictus (Unconquered), and during the Severan dynasty his worship became hugely popular in the Roman Legions, both independently and as part of the cult of Mithras. Gordian III's use of Sol's image on this aureus probably evokes the upcoming campaign against Persia in the East, where the Mithraic cult originated.