The Coinage of Gordian III from the Mints of Antioch and Caesarea | Roger Bland

Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 60, 2023

This book presents a detailed die-study of the issues of the mints of Antioch in Syria and Caesarea in Cappadocia from the reign of Gordian III (AD 238-44). The coinage of Antioch consisted of two series of radiates with Roman legends and four series of tetradrachms and 3,818 coins of Antioch and 1,312 silver and bronze coins of Caesarea are included in the die-study. All the dies are illustrated in 100 plates.

The study shows how to distinguish the radiates of Antioch from those of Rome and examines the relationship between radiates and tetradrachms of Antioch. The former coins have traditionally been classed as `Roman imperial' and the latter as `Roman provincial'. The dies for the coinage of Caesarea were also produced by Antiochene engravers, which had not been noticed before.

Further chapters examine chronological problems, the metal content of the silver coins of Gordian's reign (over a hundred analyses are published here for the first time), the evidence for their circulation in hoards and site finds and the historical events of Gordian's reign. These findings are summarized in the conclusion, which sets the coinages of Antioch and Caesarea in their historical context.

Roger Bland is President of the Royal Numismatic Society. He retired in 2015 as Keeper of the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory at the British Museum.

548 pages + 100 plates, 1,414 illustrations in text.

ISBN 978-0–901405–39–6

£80 (£60 to Fellows of the RNS)