This genuine Ancient Roman bronze coin has been mounted in a modern 18 karat gold pendant and attached to a modern 14 karat gold chain.

This ancient coin bearing the image of M. Antonius Gordianus born in approximately 225 A.D., affords us a glimpse into the challenging life and times of the Roman emperors. Reading his name around the circumference of the coin, we might think only of a distant opulence. But this emperor's grandfather Gordian I, together with his uncle Gordian II, both perished in a revolt they staged against the emperor Maximinus in 238 A.D. The senate, also in opposition to Maximinus, established two co-emperors, Balbinus and Pupienus, and it was they who conveyed the title of Caesar to Gordian III. The co-emperors were then murdered and Gordian III was proclaimed Augustus by the praetorian guard. Able at last to escape the treacherous political manipulations of Rome, and express his considerable military talents, in 244 ad. Gordian journeyed to the Persian east where he enjoyed great initial success in an important campaign. Treachery, however, had followed him even to the battlefields. The praetorian prefect Julius Phillipus had ambitions of his own, and undermined the loyalty of the army. No longer consigned either to anonymity or to a museum vault, the coin is now surrounded with gold and suspended from an elegant chain bold enough to mirror the qualities of the courageous emperor who quelled rebellions in distant lands centuries ago.