Ancient ID help please

dcamp78

This is supposedly silver:

Obverse:


Reverse:


If possible, I'd like a reference #, silver weight and where it originated.

Thanks,

spoon

It's an antoninianus of Gordian III. There are a couple here that resemble it.

lordmarcovan

It is Roman Empire. Third century AD, I believe.

You won't get exact silver weights with ancient coins like you do for more "modern" pieces.

It's either a silver denarius or a silvered bronze antoninianus, I forget which. The emperor is Gordian, looks like some Gordian III antoninianii I had.

I am away from my Sear catalog and am limited to half-educated guesses, I'm afraid.

STLNATS

This is indeed an antoninianus (= 2 denarius) of Gordian III. The reverse shows the 2nd anniversary (TRP II) of his receiving the Tribunician power so it can be dated to 239-240 AD. The emperor is shown sacrificing over an altar.

These are somewhat debased content, and run about 50% fineness during this period and, as mentioned above, of variable weight. Often these were struck so many to the pound vs maintaining the specific weight of each coin.

My old (1988) Sear book has this as number 2449 and RIC37. Given the style and subject matter, I'd guess that this was minted in Rome itself but someone with more detailed reference material might be able to confirm for sure.

dcamp78

Anyone have a ballpark value for this coin?

Sapyx

It's listed in the latest Sear catalogue (millennium edition, Volume III) as number 8637, US$50 in EF, $20 in VF. Sear reports these were struck in Rome, 239 AD.

By the time of Gordian III, the silver content of the denarius and antoninanus had fallen to somewhere around 1/3 of the fine standard it had at the height of the empire, and was falling rapidly. Thirty years after your coin was struck, there was only a tiny trace (around 2%) left.