Antoninus Pius Denarii

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus came to power on account of his having been adopted (at the age of 51) by Hadrian, with the understanding that his reign was to serve as a bridge to the eventual succession of the then juvenile Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Vera. This turned out to be quite a bit longer than anticipated, however, as Antoninus Pius lived (and ruled) for another 23 years.

Mild mannered and scholarly to the point where the latter quality might've even been thought a vice, Antoninus Pius notably freed political prisoners who'd run afoul of his predecessor. His time as emperor was generally peaceful and prosperous. What military campaigns that needed to be carried out he entrusted to his generals to accomplish, never himself leaving Rome except to visit his nearby estate.

The pair of coins pictured below intrigued me owing to their well executed portraits. Antoninus Pius was considered to be a handsome man with an aristocratic bearing, and I think this comes through on each of these specimens, perhaps accentuated by neither making him look anywhere near as old as he actually was (extant sculpture of the period also idealizes this emperor with an obviously mature but still unnaturally youthful appearance). Both coins bear the legend COS IIII on the reverse, with the first showing TR P XIIII and the second TR P XVIII on the obverse. Although sold by a supposedly trustworthy and knowledgeable specialty dealer, these were both totally misidentified (glad I checked rather than taking their word on that), which I've only partially been able to set right here. I'm now actually slightly concerned regarding the authenticity of the example for which I can't find a catalog entry.

Yet unidentified (Felicitas?)





RIC 240 (Fortuna, RSC 272)