Thessalonica, Roman Provincial, Gordian III - Odd Legend

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,786
Sap Moderator Australia 16868 Posts	Posted 09/15/2012 06:45 am I recently purchased the following coin: Basic info on the coin: Thessalonica, AE24 of Gordian III, reverse showing agonistic urn of Pythian Games, inscribed "PVThIA" (although all the letters except "A" have worn off my example). Reverse legend "ThESSALONEIKEWN NEWKOR". My question is on the interpretation and translation of the obverse legend. As near as I can make out, it reads "AVT K EMATNOC GORDIANOC". Most of the other Roman Provincial coins of Gordian III have some variant of "AVT KAI MAR ANTWN GORDIANOC", and I just can't make EMATNOC fit into that... unless there was a die-cutter in Thessalonica who was a really bad speller. Some of those letters could be interpreted differently, but I'm wondering if anyone knows exactly what "EMATNOC" means or stands for. For different views of the lettering in question, here are the seller's pics of my coin, and here is one on CoinArchives that seems to be a similar type, with the same obverse legend and clearer lettering. For comparison, this one is more or less identical to mine but has the more orthodox AV K M ANTWN GORDIANOC legend. I even thought it might actually be a coin of Gordian I or II, but they don't have any names I could find that fitted that, either. Any ideas or opinions welcome. Also, if anyone can verify, correct or expand upon the dealer's attribution of mine as "Lindgren 1240var (without branch), BMC 128v", that would be appreciated, too. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff

Bing Pillar of the Community United States 4253 Posts	Posted 09/15/2012 08:57 am That's a very interesting coin SAP. I just wanted to let you know I'm working on it. I don't know if I will be able to get an answer, but I'm trying. Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 09/15/2012 11:52 am The spelling is just a little different by two letters, but I wonder if it's Illustrious (ENDOXOS). Report this Post to the Staff
Bing Pillar of the Community United States 4253 Posts	Posted 09/15/2012 8:07 pm My son and I worked on this long distance, both over the net and on the phone. Here is what we came up with. For the obverse, perhaps try: AVT KEI ATNOS We replaced the 6th letter with an "I" instead of what you sent ("M"), because it could be a Greek "eta", which looks like an "H", but makes the sound "I". The result is that phonetically it would be closer to the other coins which have "KAI". We also replaced the final "C" with an "S". Sigma sometimes looks like a "C", but makes an "S" sound. Similarly, instead of "GORDIANOC" it becomes "GORDIANOS". We did not try to find any coins to match our suppositions, leaving that up to you if you agree with what we came up with. I hope this helps. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16868 Posts	Posted 09/17/2012 05:29 am OK, I had a browse through the university copy of BMC Macedonia during my lunch break at work today, and I think I've worked it out. And it is indeed caused by a really bad speller - or at least, by someone not very good at abbreviating things comprehensibly. There are several coins of Thessalonica where "KAISAROS" is abbreviated "KE" - not for Gordian III, admittedly, and most notably on a coin of Phillip II. Perhaps the "E" is supposed to be a "C", since there's no "E" in KAISAROS. That would allow the "M" to be the standard abbreviation for MARKOS. There are two coins - BMC 122 and 129 - where ANTWNIOS is abbreviated "ANTNIOS"; I think my coin takes this shortcutting to the next (illogical) level: they've simply deleted every second letter. Thus, we have ANTWNIOS = ATNOS. So now I'm pretty sure my coin should be read: AVT KE M ATNOS GORDIANOS. But I'm always happy to be corrected by someone who might actually know. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 09/20/2012 10:05 am I checked with a couple friends more skilled in Gondian Provincials and they seemed to agree with the ANTWNIOS = ATNOS theory. I am less than satisfied with that because it would seem the shortened name was ANTWNINOS but I suppose it still works. For my way of looking at it, the question remains open. Report this Post to the Staff
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