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Sestertius of Gordian III

Roman (Artist)
241-244 CE (Roman Imperial)
bronze; struck

Obverse: Bust of Gordian III, laureate, draped, right. Reverse: Pax running left, holding a branch in the right hand and a staff in the left.
The reverse inscription of pax aeterna (eternal peace) refers to the period of civil war leading up to Gordian’s elevation to the imperial purple in 238 CE. A further rebellion was quashed in 240, placing this coin’s circulation sometime afterward.

Inscription

[Inscription, Latin; obverse] IMP(erator) GORDIANVS PIVS FEL(ix) AVG(ustus) [Translation] Imperator Gordianus, pious, lucky, Augustus [Inscription, Latin; reverse] PAX AETERNA; in field, S(enatus) C(onsulto) [Translation] Eternal peace; by senatorial decree

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Harold Landon, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1943, by gift.

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Geographies

Italy, Rome (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Max diam: 1 3/16 in. (3 cm); axis: 12:00

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. Harold Landon, 1943

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

59.632

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