Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.30 g.
Title
Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.30 g.
Creator
Antoninus Pius
Date
146-161 CE
Description
Obverse: Draped bust of Faustina the Younger facing left; FAVSTINA AVG(VSTA) PII AVG(VSTI) FIL(IA): Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus.
Reverse: Dove facing right; CONCORDIA: Concordia.
Style/Period: Roman Empire
Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder and wife of Marcus Aurelius, was a refined and elegant woman doted upon by her father and her husband. Both men honored her on their coins. It is assumed that the coins whose legends identify her as the daughter of Antoninus were issued by him and that those that do not use his name were issued by Marcus Aurelius.
Many marble portraits of Faustina survive, and the portrait on the obverse of this coin issued by Antoninus has the elaborate hairstyle of her youthful portraits, parted in the center, waved around the face, and braided into a bun at the back. Concordia, the concept of peace and harmony, is represented by a dove on the reverse.
-- Kathleen L. Metzger Newmyer, LU '94
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 503.
Many marble portraits of Faustina survive, and the portrait on the obverse of this coin issued by Antoninus has the elaborate hairstyle of her youthful portraits, parted in the center, waved around the face, and braided into a bun at the back. Concordia, the concept of peace and harmony, is represented by a dove on the reverse.
-- Kathleen L. Metzger Newmyer, LU '94
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 503.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Bought at Münzen und Medaillen auction, January 30, 1984.
Identifier
91.182
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Roman, Empire, Faustina the Younger, dove, Antoninus Pius
Files
Citation
Antoninus Pius, “Gold Aureus of Antoninus Pius, 7.30 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/285.