Gold Aureus of Lucius Verus, 7.27 g.
Title
Gold Aureus of Lucius Verus, 7.27 g.
Creator
Lucius Verus
Date
CE 169-182
Description
Obverse: Draped bust of Lucilla to right; LVCILLAE AVG(VSTA) ANTONINI AVG(VSTI) F(ILIA): For Lucilla Augusta, daughter of the Antonines.
Reverse: Venus standing to left, holding scepter in left hand and apple in right; VENVS: Venus.
Style/Period: Roman Empire
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla was the daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. In 161 she was married to Lucius Verus, Marcus’s adoptive brother and co-emperor. After his death five years later, she was married to the elderly senator Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, although the imperial family continued to feature her on its coins. Lucilla was later involved in a plot to assassinate her brother, the emperor Commodus, who had her sent into exile and then executed in 182.
The obverse portrait is typical of Roman imperial women, featuring a draped bust and elegant hairstyle. The inscription on the obverse helps in dating the coin. Coins depicting Lucilla have one of two inscriptions, LVCILLA AVGUSTA or LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F. The former is found on coins issued during her marriage to Lucius Verus, while the latter was used on coins issued after she remarried. The simpler, two-word inscription highlights her role as Augusta, a title often conferred upon the emperor’s wife. In the later coins, the title was changed to emphasize her relationship to the imperial family as a daughter, since her status as empress was lost when Lucius died.
On the reverse is Venus, a goddess frequently shown on coins featuring Roman women because of her roles as Mother of Rome and goddess of fertility. The apple is a reference to the myth of the Judgement of Paris, in which Venus was awarded a golden apple for being the fairest of the goddesses. The scepter is a symbol of authority and sovereignty, demonstrating her divinity and power.
-- Anne Holt, LU ‘18
Bibliography: Cassius Dio, Roman History, 72.4; R. A. G. Carson, Coins of the Roman Empire (London 1990), 51; A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography (London 2000), 107, 118, 131, 161-162.
The obverse portrait is typical of Roman imperial women, featuring a draped bust and elegant hairstyle. The inscription on the obverse helps in dating the coin. Coins depicting Lucilla have one of two inscriptions, LVCILLA AVGUSTA or LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F. The former is found on coins issued during her marriage to Lucius Verus, while the latter was used on coins issued after she remarried. The simpler, two-word inscription highlights her role as Augusta, a title often conferred upon the emperor’s wife. In the later coins, the title was changed to emphasize her relationship to the imperial family as a daughter, since her status as empress was lost when Lucius died.
On the reverse is Venus, a goddess frequently shown on coins featuring Roman women because of her roles as Mother of Rome and goddess of fertility. The apple is a reference to the myth of the Judgement of Paris, in which Venus was awarded a golden apple for being the fairest of the goddesses. The scepter is a symbol of authority and sovereignty, demonstrating her divinity and power.
-- Anne Holt, LU ‘18
Bibliography: Cassius Dio, Roman History, 72.4; R. A. G. Carson, Coins of the Roman Empire (London 1990), 51; A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography (London 2000), 107, 118, 131, 161-162.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased in Bank Leu auction, May 5, 1977.
Identifier
91.185
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Files
Citation
Lucius Verus, “Gold Aureus of Lucius Verus, 7.27 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/417.