Watch List notes:

The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Antoninus Pius augustus, 138 – 161

Aureus 140, AV 7.55 g. ANTONINVS AVG – PIVS P P TR P COS III Laureate head of Antoninus Pius l. Rev. AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F COS Bareheaded, draped and cuirassed bust of Marcus Aurelius r. C 20. BMC 170. RIC 421b and pl. 4, 19 (this reverse die). Calicó 1734 (these dies).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Two attractive portraits
perfectly struck and centred on a full flan. Extremely fine


Provenance
Sold by Frank Sternberg & Giorgio Apparuti auction XIX, Zurich, 18 November 1987, lot 654.
Sold by Numismatica Ars Classica, auction 4, 1991, lot 373.
Sold by Münzen & Medaillen AG 79, Zurich, 28 February 1994, lot 538.
Inventory of Freeman & Sear (Los Angeles), sold on 11 May 2005.
Although Antoninus Pius succeeded Hadrian as emperor of Rome, he truly was third or fourth down the line of preference. Hadrian's first choice as successor was the nobleman Aelius, who was hailed Caesar in 136, but who died unexpectedly after a year in office. Hadrian then determined he would pass the throne to Aelius' son Lucius Verus – then only seven years old – and to the 17-year-old Marcus Aurelius, who was a distant relative and a close companion. In truth the middle aged Antoninus Pius was merely a surrogate emperor in the eyes of Hadrian, and he remained truthful to his promise to act as guardian for Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Indeed, he was so faithful to the memory of Hadrian that he earned his surname "Pius" because he fought so diligently to convince the Senate to deify Hadrian. Over the years of his own principate, Antoninus Pius groomed both as his eventual successors, and thus continued the tradition of adoptive succession. He enjoyed a productive and mostly peaceful reign, and unlike Hadrian, who travelled extensively, Antoninus Pius never once left Italy in his twenty-two years on the throne. Unlike the great variety of Hadrian's coinage on which he celebrates his extensive travels, Antoninus' reverse types are localized, and on occasion they reflect the attention he paid to the betterment of Rome and Italy. This aureus is one of his more interesting types, as it bears the portrait of Antoninus Pius on the obverse and that of his elder heir Marcus Aurelius on the reverse.