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Showcase Auction 61258 20 Feb 2022
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Ancients
Gordian I Africanus (March-April AD 238). AE sestertius (30mm, 22.20 gm, 12h). NGC VG 4/5 - 3/5. Rome, 1-22 AD April 238. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Gordian I right, seen from behind / SECVRITAS AVGG, Securitas enthroned left, transverse scepter in right hand; S C in exergue. RIC IV.II 11.
From the Werner Collection. Ex J.B. Collection (Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 455, 30 October 2019), lot 323; purchased from Tom Cederlind, summer 2005
Gordian I and his son Gordian II share the dubious distinction of having the shortest reigns of any "legitimate" Roman emperors. Born in AD 159 during an era of peace and stability, Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus claimed a distant relation to the emperor Trajan on his mother's side and descent from those famous Republican reformers, the brothers Gracchi, on his father's. Despite these illustrious genes, he had a rather uneventful career as a Senator and did not reach the Consulship until the advanced age of 64. He was approaching his 80s when, in AD 237/8, the Emperor Maximinus I appointed him governor of North Africa, where he was expected to enforce the regime's draconian program of taxation. In March AD 238, a group of young African nobles rebelled and murdered the emperor's tax agent. Realizing they'd passed the point of no return, the rich rebels sent a delegation to Gordian begging him to accept the purple as a rival to the unpopular Maximinus, who was preoccupied campaigning on the Rhine frontier. At first reluctant, Gordian accepted their acclamation on March 19 and appointed his son, Gordian II, as co-emperor. The Gordians both assumed the title Africanus and dispatched a messenger to Rome proclaiming their program of reform. The Senate, which hated the brutish Maximinus, eagerly approved their elevation and began striking coins in their names. But Maximinus ordered his loyal governor in Numidia, Capellianus, to attack Carthage and crush the revolt. Capellianus duly set out with a veteran force, against which the Gordians could only pull together an ill-trained rabble. Gordian II died in battle on 12 April AD 238 and his father hanged himself upon hearing of its outcome. They had together reigned a mere 22 days.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-gordian-i-africanus-march-april-ad-238-ae-sestertius-30mm-2220-gm-12h-ngc-vg-4-5-3-5/a/61258-98122.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61258-02202022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Gordian I Africanus (March-April AD 238). AE sestertius (30mm, 22.20 gm, 12h). NGC VG 4/5 - 3/5. Rome, 1-22 AD April 238. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Gordian I right, seen from behind / SECVRITAS AVGG, Securitas enthroned left, transverse scepter in right hand; S C in exergue. RIC IV.II 11.
From the Werner Collection. Ex J.B. Collection (Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 455, 30 October 2019), lot 323; purchased from Tom Cederlind, summer 2005
Gordian I and his son Gordian II share the dubious distinction of having the shortest reigns of any "legitimate" Roman emperors. Born in AD 159 during an era of peace and stability, Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus claimed a distant relation to the emperor Trajan on his mother's side and descent from those famous Republican reformers, the brothers Gracchi, on his father's. Despite these illustrious genes, he had a rather uneventful career as a Senator and did not reach the Consulship until the advanced age of 64. He was approaching his 80s when, in AD 237/8, the Emperor Maximinus I appointed him governor of North Africa, where he was expected to enforce the regime's draconian program of taxation. In March AD 238, a group of young African nobles rebelled and murdered the emperor's tax agent. Realizing they'd passed the point of no return, the rich rebels sent a delegation to Gordian begging him to accept the purple as a rival to the unpopular Maximinus, who was preoccupied campaigning on the Rhine frontier. At first reluctant, Gordian accepted their acclamation on March 19 and appointed his son, Gordian II, as co-emperor. The Gordians both assumed the title Africanus and dispatched a messenger to Rome proclaiming their program of reform. The Senate, which hated the brutish Maximinus, eagerly approved their elevation and began striking coins in their names. But Maximinus ordered his loyal governor in Numidia, Capellianus, to attack Carthage and crush the revolt. Capellianus duly set out with a veteran force, against which the Gordians could only pull together an ill-trained rabble. Gordian II died in battle on 12 April AD 238 and his father hanged himself upon hearing of its outcome. They had together reigned a mere 22 days.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-gordian-i-africanus-march-april-ad-238-ae-sestertius-30mm-2220-gm-12h-ngc-vg-4-5-3-5/a/61258-98122.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61258-02202022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved