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Coin of the Month

February 2025: Meeting an old friend from Odessos

The Coin of this Month is presented by Karsten Dahmen


This coin issued in Odessos under the reign of Gordianus III (AD 238-244) does not necessarily look spectacular. But as its shape and conservation make it stand out amongst specimens of the same type, positive identification is quite easy. It is already mentioned (and illustrated with a more flattering drawing) in Lorenz Beger’s, Thesaurus Brandenburgicus II 724 of 1696, but its true provenance is even more exciting:

In 1643 Hermann Ewich (1601–1673) wrote a manuscript on archaeological objects including coins originating from the site of the Roman colonia and military fortresses in Xanten in the Rhineland. Ewich was a pastor, historian, and carthographer in nearby Wesel.

Signature Manuscript: Ms. lat. qu. 36
Signature Ms. lat. qu. 36



It is today preserved in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin [http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00019DB100000000]). On fol. 31 verso we immediately recognize Ewich’s drawing of this coin. He writes: “In the year 1635, on 13 December, I did see a huge bronze coin with the illustrious Prince Frederick William of Brandenburg … one of the emperor Gordian with Greek legends. If I remember correctely, a standing figure with a stola on the reverse, and a hardly readable legend. On this coin Gordian is depicted with (his) bust and wearing a radiate crown, looking left, his right arm raised and a globe in his left hand.“

The Elector of Brandenburg being the Lord of Kleve, too, his residence in Cleves held a collection of Antiquities from the region. When Frederick William became the Elector in 1640, his collections including this coin was moved to Berlin.
This coin in IKMK: https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?id=18276059

I am grateful to Bertram Lesser of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Dept. of manuscripts and historical prints, for providing both a transcription and a translation of Ewich’s notes.



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