RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 Dupondius

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the middle of the second century AD, the Roman currency system operated under a stable bimetallic and base-metal denominational hierarchy formalized by the Augustan monetary reforms and maintained with minimal structural deviation through the Antonine period. Within this framework, the dupondius occupied a vital intermediate position in daily retail transactions. Valued at two asses or half a sestertius, the dupondius represented one-eighth of a silver denarius and one-two-hundredth of a gold aureus. While the sestertius served as the principal large-denomination base-metal coin for municipal accounting and substantial private transactions, the dupondius and the as provided the necessary liquidity for low-value marketplace commerce, daily rations, and service fees throughout Italy and the provinces. Materially, the dupondius was traditionally struck from orichalcum, a golden-yellow brass alloy consisting of copper and zinc, which distinguished it visually and metallurgically from the redder, pure copper fabric of the as. Because wear, patination, and variable alloy recipes could obscure the compositional difference between orichalcum and copper in circulation, imperial mint masters employed a rigid iconographic convention: the emperor wore a radiate crown on dupondii, whereas the as consistently depicted the emperor with a laureate crown or bare head. RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 adheres strictly to this convention, ensuring that handlers could identify the two-as value immediately. Issued during an era celebrated by historians for economic stability and fiscal moderation, this type illustrates how Antonine bronze currency reliably integrated routine fiscal functions with family-centered imperial messaging.

Production Technology and Mint Organization

The entire production of RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 was centered at the primary imperial mint in Rome. Under the early Antonine emperors, base-metal coinage was struck in vast quantities to supply Rome, Italy, and military districts along the Rhine and Danube frontiers that lacked local imperial mints. Although the reverses of these base-metal coins retained the traditional senatorial formula S C, indicating senatus consulto, numismatic consensus affirms that operational control, bullion acquisition, and design approvals were firmly directed by the imperial administration through the procurator monetae and the bureau of the rationalis. Production followed standard Roman manufacturing methods. Flans were cast in individual molds or multi-cavity matrices, producing round or slightly elliptical blanks with bevelled edges. The alloy for the dupondius aimed at orichalcum, though modern compositional studies show that the proportion of zinc in Antonine brass had begun a long secular decline from the high percentages of the early Julio-Claudian era. After cooling and trimming of casting sprues, the blanks were heated to anneal the metal before being placed between hand-cut iron or bronze dies. A die pair for this issue paired an obverse die bearing the radiate imperial head with a reverse die featuring crossed cornucopiae. The striking process utilized manual sledgehammers, producing typical die axes predominantly aligned at six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting systematic workshop management within the officinae of the Rome mint.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 presents the mature portrait of Antoninus Pius facing right, adorned with a radiate crown. By AD 148 and AD 149, Antoninus Pius was in his early sixties, having reigned for a decade. The portraiture executed by the Rome mint die-engravers in this phase embodies the high classical realism of Antonine court art. It avoids both the aggressive verism of the late Republic and the austere military idealization of Trajan, emphasizing instead gravitas, temperate calm, and philosophical contemplation. The emperor is depicted with thick, carefully arranged curls of hair bound beneath the solar rays, a well-groomed beard of moderate length, and refined facial planes marked by subtle indications of mature age around the eyes and brow. The radiate crown serves simultaneously as the technical marker of the dupondius denomination and an emblem of divine solar association. While solar imagery became intensely theological in the third century AD, under Antoninus Pius the radiate crown remained primarily an established numismatic device that signaled divine blessing, cosmic order, and imperial protection without claiming explicit living deification. The bust truncation is typically depicted bare, focusing viewer attention directly on the dignified features of the princeps.

Reverse Iconography: Cornucopiae and the Dynastic Twins

The reverse of the type displays two cornucopiae, crossed at their bases, with each horn terminating upward in a fruit-filled mouth surmounted by the miniature bust of an infant boy. Below or around the lower fields of the crossed horns, the senatorial authority mark S C is clearly displayed. This striking composition constitutes one of the most distinctive dynastic images in the Antonine bronze series. The cornucopia had long served on Roman coinage as the primary attribute of Abundantia, Felicitas, and Fortuna, symbolizing material prosperity, peace, and the bounty of the earth fostered by benign imperial governance. By placing infant busts atop the horns, the designers fused agricultural fecundity with genealogical continuity. The infants represent the twin sons born in AD 149 to Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, who was the emperor's adopted son, designated successor, and Caesar. Although historical and epigraphic records indicate that both twin boys, named Titus Aurelius Antoninus and Tiberius Aelius Aurelius, died in infancy shortly after birth, the initial event prompted an extensive celebratory coin issue. The crossing of the cornucopiae visually unites the dual blessings of the birth, assuring the empire that the succession was doubly secure and that the Golden Age of the Antonines would extend into future generations.

Epigraphic Structure and Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 are split between imperial titulature on the obverse and thematic ideological proclamation on the reverse, adhering to rigorous epigraphic formulas. The obverse legend reads ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII, running clockwise from the lower left. This formula breaks down into: ANTONINVS (the personal nomen adopted from his adoptive father Hadrian), AVG for AVGVSTVS (the venerable supreme title), PIVS (the cognomen awarded by the Senate early in his reign to honor his filial devotion), P P for PATER PATRIAE (Father of the Fatherland, accepted in AD 139), and TR P XII for TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE XII (holder of tribunician power for the twelfth time). The reverse legend reads TEMPORVM FELICITAS COS IIII, arranged around the perimeter of the field, accompanied by S C in the field. TEMPORVM FELICITAS translates directly as 'The Felicity of the Times' or 'Temporal Happiness', framing the domestic joy of the imperial family as a shared public blessing for all citizens of the empire. COS IIII indicates that Antoninus Pius was serving in or had attained his fourth consulship, an office he assumed on January 1, AD 145, and never held again, making it an invariable freeze-title for the remainder of his life. Finally, S C stands for SENATVS CONSVLTO, maintaining the traditional constitutional fiction that bronze coinage was issued with the formal approval and decree of the Senate.

Typology and Chronological Placement

The precise chronological placement of RIC III Antoninus Pius 859 is anchored securely by the iteration of the tribunician power recorded on the obverse. Antoninus Pius renewed his tribunician power annually on December 10. Consequently, TR P XII commenced on December 10, AD 148, and concluded on December 9, AD 149. The reverse motif of the twin infants atop crossed cornucopiae aligns closely with other related issues across multiple metals struck in AD 149, including aurei, denarii, and sestertii featuring identical or closely paired themes such as FECVNDITAS and SAECVLI FELICITAS. Within the broader typology of the Antonine bronze series, RIC 859 must be differentiated from neighboring catalogue entries. The corresponding sestertius, catalogued as RIC III Antoninus Pius 857, displays the laureate head of the emperor with the same reverse motif, struck on a significantly heavier and wider orichalcum module. RIC 858 represents a variant sestertius with drapery, while RIC 859 specifically designates the radiate dupondius denomination. Another related type, RIC 860, represents an as or dupondius variant with altered bust attributes or alternate legend line breaks. The issue of RIC 859 was concentrated within the calendar year AD 149, marking it as a punctual commemorative issue rather than an ongoing substantive type.

Circulation, Wear, and Hoard Evidence

As a regular base-metal issue of the Rome mint, dupondii of the RIC 859 type entered circulation through imperial disbursements, urban expenditures in Rome, and broad distribution to military and civilian hubs across the Western provinces. Unlike precious metal aurei and denarii, which frequently crossed imperial frontiers or were hoarded during fiscal uncertainty, brass dupondii primarily circulated within the formal boundaries of the Roman world, passing through countless daily hands in retail markets, taverns, and municipal tax stations. Evidence from excavated settlement sites and bronze hoards across Italy, Gaul, the Germanies, and Britain reveals that mid-second-century dupondii possessed immense circulating longevity. Due to their durable base-metal fabric, dupondii struck under Antoninus Pius routinely remained in active commercial use for several decades, often circulating well into the Severan era and the monetary crises of the third century AD. In later hoard contexts, specimens of RIC 859 frequently exhibit substantial surface wear, smoothing the delicate infant busts and peripheral legends, which attests to continuous transactional velocity over an extended economic lifespan.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Severus Alexander. p. 293
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 95-104
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 134, no. 859
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 859. ric.3.ant.859