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GORDIAN III AR antoninianus - struck July-Dec. 243 AD
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obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG (radiate draped bust right)
rev: VICTORIA AETERNA (Victory standing left with palm, resting sheild on captive at foot)
ref: RIC IViii 156, RSC 353
mint: Rome
4.02gms, 22mm
12th Issue, 5th Officina
History: In AD 240 the Persians under Shapur I invaded Mesopotamia. Gordian, the young emperor opened the doors of the Temple of Janus for the last time in Roman history, and sent a huge army to the East. This coin probably commemorate the victory in the Battle of Resaena or Resaina (today Ras al-Ayn, Syria) in AD 243, when the Roman army -led by Praetorian Prefect Timesitheus- defeated the Sassanid Empire army, led by King Shapur I.
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