Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Antoninus Pius augustus, 138 – 161.
Sestertius 141-143, Æ 30.60 g. ANTONINV AVG PI – VS P P TR P COS III Draped and cuirassed bust r, wearing barley wreath. Rev. SALVS – AVG S – C Salus standing l., feeding out of patera in r. hand serpent coiled round lighted altar, and leaning l. hand on long sceptre. C 710 var. (laureate). BMC 1303 note var. (laureate). RIC 635b var. (laureate). Cf. NGSA sale 6, 2010, 272 (for a portrait engraved by the same master engraver).
An apparently unrecorded variety with Antoninus Pius with barley wreath. Undoubtedly
one of finest sestertii of Antoninus Pius in existence with a portrait of enchanting
beauty, the work of an extremely talented master-engraver, possibly the
Alpheus master. Superb light brown tone and good extremely fine
Privately purchased from NGSA in 2009.
Due to his wealth, popularity and character, Hadrian designated T. Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus to succeed him as Emperor, after L. Aelius, his first choice as successor died prematurely. Antoninus was officially adopted by Hadrian on 25 February AD 138 and, in order to ensure the continuity of succession, Antoninus in turn adopted Lucius Verus, the young son of Aelius, and his nephew, Marcus Aurelius, as heirs. When Hadrian died on 10 July AD 138, the Senate was quick to prepare a decree of damnatio memoriae in revenge for his execution of several of its members, but Antoninus intervened with a speech of such eloquence that the decree was never enacted. In honor of this great display of loyalty to his adoptive father, the Senate instead awarded him the honorific title, Pius. In Latin literature this adjective was frequently used to describe Aeneas, the ancestor of the Roman people, with respect to his devotion to his aged father Anchises. Despite the initial flourish of reverence for Hadrian, the reign of Antoninus Pius was very different than that of the peripatetic Emperor. Over the course of his long reign, Antoninus never once left Italy, instead preferring to stay in the environs of Rome to administer the Empire and to work to repair the damaged relationship between Emperor and Senate. To this end, he attempted to present himself as more of a supreme magistrate in Rome than as a monarchical ruler, thus contrasting himself with both Hadrian and several of the more hated Julio-Claudian Emperors. Antoninus Pius was a great builder and a careful financial planner, who made sure that qualified men were placed in positions of responsibility in the imperial administration. Through these means, when he died, he was able to leave to Marcus Aurelius a surplus of 675 million in the imperial treasury and an empire slightly enlarged in Britannia and along the northern frontiers. It had been a custom extending back to Augustus for Roman Emperors to have themselves depicted on coins and in other artworks wearing a laurel wreath. This fashion ultimately derived from Julius Caesar, who is said to have preferred to be depicted this way in order to hide his balding head, but was intended to evoke the sacred aspect of the imperial personage as established by Augustus. The numismatic portraits of Antoninus Pius as Emperor usually adhere to this Roman custom, but on this impressive and apparently unpublished sestertius, he is depicted wearing a wreath formed from ears of barley rather than the usual laurel. Other rare sestertii with the same imperial titulature and a reverse featuring the Salus (Health) of the Emperor are known, but this is the only specimen on which Antoninus Pius wears a wreath of grain. This peculiarity would seem to suggest the celebration of some special work undertaken by the Emperor for the security and distribution of the Annona-the grain supply upon which much of the population of Rome depended. Although Antoninus Pius' predecessor Hadrian and his successor Marcus Aurelius were both as inducted into the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were related to the chthonian goddess Persephone and agriculture, Pius never left Italy and therefore could not have been inducted into this important Greek cult as well. Thus there is no way to connect the barley wreath with the mysteries, which might otherwise be tempting if the coin were an issue of Hadrian or Aurelius. A recent iconographic study has shown that types related to the Annona were the most frequently used on the aes coinage of Antoninus Pius, no doubt because this coinage was most frequently used by the lower classes of Roman society-people for whom the public grain supply was of greatest concern. However, the obverse titulature, which refers to the third consulship of Antoninus Pius, would seem to indicate that the grain wreath refers to some occasion that fell between AD 140, the year in which he served as consul for the third time and AD 145, the year in which he assumed the consulship for the fourth time. Annona-related types occur on rare silver denarii with this consular dating, but are far more prominent on coins struck in the Emperor's fourth consulship. This may suggest that the barley wreath on the head of Antoninus Pius served to mark the beginning of a project to improve the distribution of grain at Rome late in the period of his third consulship and which carried over into his fourth consulship.
Sestertius 141-143, Æ 30.60 g. ANTONINV AVG PI – VS P P TR P COS III Draped and cuirassed bust r, wearing barley wreath. Rev. SALVS – AVG S – C Salus standing l., feeding out of patera in r. hand serpent coiled round lighted altar, and leaning l. hand on long sceptre. C 710 var. (laureate). BMC 1303 note var. (laureate). RIC 635b var. (laureate). Cf. NGSA sale 6, 2010, 272 (for a portrait engraved by the same master engraver).
An apparently unrecorded variety with Antoninus Pius with barley wreath. Undoubtedly
one of finest sestertii of Antoninus Pius in existence with a portrait of enchanting
beauty, the work of an extremely talented master-engraver, possibly the
Alpheus master. Superb light brown tone and good extremely fine
Privately purchased from NGSA in 2009.
Due to his wealth, popularity and character, Hadrian designated T. Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus to succeed him as Emperor, after L. Aelius, his first choice as successor died prematurely. Antoninus was officially adopted by Hadrian on 25 February AD 138 and, in order to ensure the continuity of succession, Antoninus in turn adopted Lucius Verus, the young son of Aelius, and his nephew, Marcus Aurelius, as heirs. When Hadrian died on 10 July AD 138, the Senate was quick to prepare a decree of damnatio memoriae in revenge for his execution of several of its members, but Antoninus intervened with a speech of such eloquence that the decree was never enacted. In honor of this great display of loyalty to his adoptive father, the Senate instead awarded him the honorific title, Pius. In Latin literature this adjective was frequently used to describe Aeneas, the ancestor of the Roman people, with respect to his devotion to his aged father Anchises. Despite the initial flourish of reverence for Hadrian, the reign of Antoninus Pius was very different than that of the peripatetic Emperor. Over the course of his long reign, Antoninus never once left Italy, instead preferring to stay in the environs of Rome to administer the Empire and to work to repair the damaged relationship between Emperor and Senate. To this end, he attempted to present himself as more of a supreme magistrate in Rome than as a monarchical ruler, thus contrasting himself with both Hadrian and several of the more hated Julio-Claudian Emperors. Antoninus Pius was a great builder and a careful financial planner, who made sure that qualified men were placed in positions of responsibility in the imperial administration. Through these means, when he died, he was able to leave to Marcus Aurelius a surplus of 675 million in the imperial treasury and an empire slightly enlarged in Britannia and along the northern frontiers. It had been a custom extending back to Augustus for Roman Emperors to have themselves depicted on coins and in other artworks wearing a laurel wreath. This fashion ultimately derived from Julius Caesar, who is said to have preferred to be depicted this way in order to hide his balding head, but was intended to evoke the sacred aspect of the imperial personage as established by Augustus. The numismatic portraits of Antoninus Pius as Emperor usually adhere to this Roman custom, but on this impressive and apparently unpublished sestertius, he is depicted wearing a wreath formed from ears of barley rather than the usual laurel. Other rare sestertii with the same imperial titulature and a reverse featuring the Salus (Health) of the Emperor are known, but this is the only specimen on which Antoninus Pius wears a wreath of grain. This peculiarity would seem to suggest the celebration of some special work undertaken by the Emperor for the security and distribution of the Annona-the grain supply upon which much of the population of Rome depended. Although Antoninus Pius' predecessor Hadrian and his successor Marcus Aurelius were both as inducted into the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were related to the chthonian goddess Persephone and agriculture, Pius never left Italy and therefore could not have been inducted into this important Greek cult as well. Thus there is no way to connect the barley wreath with the mysteries, which might otherwise be tempting if the coin were an issue of Hadrian or Aurelius. A recent iconographic study has shown that types related to the Annona were the most frequently used on the aes coinage of Antoninus Pius, no doubt because this coinage was most frequently used by the lower classes of Roman society-people for whom the public grain supply was of greatest concern. However, the obverse titulature, which refers to the third consulship of Antoninus Pius, would seem to indicate that the grain wreath refers to some occasion that fell between AD 140, the year in which he served as consul for the third time and AD 145, the year in which he assumed the consulship for the fourth time. Annona-related types occur on rare silver denarii with this consular dating, but are far more prominent on coins struck in the Emperor's fourth consulship. This may suggest that the barley wreath on the head of Antoninus Pius served to mark the beginning of a project to improve the distribution of grain at Rome late in the period of his third consulship and which carried over into his fourth consulship.