THRACE. Deultum. Gordian III, 238-244. 'As' (Bronze, 23 mm, 7.45 g, 6 h), circa 238-239. IMP C M ANT GORDIANVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to right, seen from behind. Rev. C-O-L FL PAC DE/VLT River-god reclining left, holding reed in his right hand and cornucopiae in his left, resting elbow on urn from which water flows into a large basin; to left, lake-god reclining right above waves, holding staff in his left hand; in background, galley under sail to right. Draganov, Deultum 1252-4 (O97/R640). Jurukova, Deultum 251. RPC VII.2 online 823. Varbanov 2851. Very rare and very likely the finest known example. A beautiful piece with a lovely green patina and a very interesting reverse. Struck from a somewhat worn obverse die and with a scrape on the reverse edge, otherwise, good very fine.



This unique reverse type has often been described as showing the river-god Oiskos together with Thalassa, the female personification of the sea (as, for example, in RPC Online). As M. Spoerri Butcher rightly notes in the printed version of RPC VII.2, however, the lower figure is unmistakably male and therefore cannot be Thalassa. She instead interprets him as the personification of Lake Mandrensko - a brackish lagoon once connected to the sea, which was only transformed into a freshwater lake after the construction of a dam in 1963.

Yet the identification of the upper figure with the Oiskos (modern Iskar) is equally problematic: the river flows hundreds of kilometers away from Deultum, northward into the Danube, and thus has no connection either with the city or with the Black Sea. The figure is better understood as representing the Sredetska Reka, a smaller stream whose ancient name has apparently not come down to us, which flows through Deultum’s territory and into Lake Mandrensko. In this way, the type alludes allegorically to the city’s connection, by river and lagoon, to the Black Sea - making it readily accessible to seagoing vessels, as underscored by the galley under sail.

The impressive reverse type is known from only a single die, with our coin the finest preserved specimen (the only other comparable piece is heavily tooled: Gorny & Mosch 169, 12 October 2008, 178). The compositional style may even reflect the influence of a wall painting once found at Deultum, though this must remain speculative.