Denarius of the Ephemeral Gordian II

167, Lot: 172. Estimate $1000. Sold for $2208. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Gordian II. AD 238. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.63 g). Rome mint. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Providentia standing facing, head left, leaning against a column, holding cornucopiae and wand; globe at feet to left. RIC IV 1; RSC 5. VF, toned. Rare.

From the C. G. Collection.

The Roman Empire was in a remarkable situation at the beginning of AD 238, being ruled by a barbarian general, Maximinus, who had never set foot in Rome itself during his three year reign. Popular discontent broke into open conflict in North Africa where the murder of a grasping tax assessor lead to a full-scale revolt, with the proconsul, the 80 year old Gordian, proclaimed emperor in Carthage. The Senate in Rome took up his cause, and declared Gordian and his son joint emperors. The governor of Numidia remained loyal to Maximinus, and his legionnaires quickly routed the levies of the Gordians, killing the younger emperor and leading the father to suicide after a reign of thirty-six days (12 April 238).