Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.24 g.
Title
Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.24 g.
Creator
Antoninus Pius
Date
152-153 CE
Description
Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Antoninus Pius facing right; ANTONINVS AVG(VSTVS) PIVS P(ATER) P(ATRIAE) TR(IBVNICIA) P(OTESTATE) XVI: Antoninus Augustus Pius, father of the country, with tribunician power for the sixteenth time.
Reverse: Liberalitas standing to left, with four-dotted tessera (?) in right hand and vindicta in left; LIBERALITAS VII CO(N)S(VL) IIII: seventh liberality, consul for the fourth time.
Style/Period: Roman Empire
Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his heir in 138 CE, compelling him in turn to adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, who were too young to be made direct successors. Hadrian died the same year, and Antoninus convinced the Senate to consecrate his predecessor as divine (hence, probably, the name Pius, "faithful to familial obligations"). Antoninus's reign, unlike those of his successors, was relatively free from war, although there were uprisings in Dacia, Germany, and Britain.
On the obverse, Antoninus, who took up Hadrian's custom of wearing a full beard, resembles a Greek philosopher. Although traditionally scholars distinguish three portrait bust types for Antoninus, all of his numismatic portraits seem to conform to the first of these, which is distinguished by a full head of wavelike hair, with three central locks over the forehead (most likely a reference to Augustus).
This coin commemorates the seventh of Antoninus's nine congiaria or liberalities, distributions of money to individuals on a dole list. This particular congiarium marks his fifteenth anniversary as emperor. Such gifts of money are commonly celebrated on Roman coinage, but only with Hadrian, in whose footsteps Antoninus often follows, does the named personification Liberalitas appear. The exact nature of the object that Liberalitas holds in her right hand is unclear. The most likely explanations are that it is an abacus, used in apportioning the coinage; a tessera or tile, bearing the list of recipients of the congiarium; or a scoop for obtaining coins from the pile. The vindicta is the rod characteristic of Libertas, the personification of individual freedom; here Liberalitas may be confused (as she is elsewhere) with Libertas.
-- Malcolm Pettingell Hyman, LU '93
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 229; C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990) 131 no. 76a.
On the obverse, Antoninus, who took up Hadrian's custom of wearing a full beard, resembles a Greek philosopher. Although traditionally scholars distinguish three portrait bust types for Antoninus, all of his numismatic portraits seem to conform to the first of these, which is distinguished by a full head of wavelike hair, with three central locks over the forehead (most likely a reference to Augustus).
This coin commemorates the seventh of Antoninus's nine congiaria or liberalities, distributions of money to individuals on a dole list. This particular congiarium marks his fifteenth anniversary as emperor. Such gifts of money are commonly celebrated on Roman coinage, but only with Hadrian, in whose footsteps Antoninus often follows, does the named personification Liberalitas appear. The exact nature of the object that Liberalitas holds in her right hand is unclear. The most likely explanations are that it is an abacus, used in apportioning the coinage; a tessera or tile, bearing the list of recipients of the congiarium; or a scoop for obtaining coins from the pile. The vindicta is the rod characteristic of Libertas, the personification of individual freedom; here Liberalitas may be confused (as she is elsewhere) with Libertas.
-- Malcolm Pettingell Hyman, LU '93
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 229; C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990) 131 no. 76a.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Bought from Abner Kreisberg, December 19, 1970.
Identifier
91.171
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Roman, Empire, cuirass, Antoninus Pius, Liberalitas, vindicta
Files
Citation
Antoninus Pius, “Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.24 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/281.