Antoninus Pius Orichalcum Dupondius, RIC III Antoninus Pius 920

Monetary Context and Denominational System

During the reign of Antoninus Pius, the Roman imperial monetary structure preserved the stable Augustan bimetallic and trimetallic denominations. The bronze and brass series formed the vital transactional backbone of day-to-day retail exchange throughout Rome and the western provinces. Within this hierarchy, the dupondius served as an essential intermediate value between the copper as and the heavy orichalcum sestertius. Valued at two asses, eight dupondii were equivalent to one silver denarius, and one hundred dupondii formed one gold aureus. Because the dupondius had a target diameter around 26 to 28 millimeters, overlapping closely with the copper as, the Roman monetary authorities maintained two primary visual and material conventions to prevent confusion in the marketplace. First, the dupondius was struck from orichalcum, a copper-zinc alloy possessing a golden tint that elevated its perceived value above red copper. Second, the emperor's portrait was explicitly distinguished by the addition of the radiate crown, a radiant solar attribute that served as an unmistakable denominational marker across second-century bronze issues. Type RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 represents a regular institutional product of this well-regulated system, catering to standard domestic liquidity requirements in central Italy and adjacent territories while carrying imperial ideological messaging into everyday commercial transactions.

Production and Mint Attribution

The issue RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 was produced exclusively at the single central imperial mint in Rome. Under the early and high empire, centralized base-metal production for the central Mediterranean and western legions was concentrated in the capital, where state-controlled mint officinae operated in coordinated cycles. Orichalcum blanks for the dupondius were prepared by casting flans in open or closed gang moulds, followed by cold or warm trimming to remove sprues before being struck between engraved iron or bronze dies. The target weight standard for second-century dupondii generally fluctuated between 11.5 and 14.5 grams, although contemporary mint quality controls placed greater emphasis on overall alloy composition, module, and visual diameter than on strict individual blank tolerances. Dies were mechanically aligned by mint operatives, typically resulting in a consistent upright or inverted die axis (frequently 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock). Surviving examples of this specific issue demonstrate sharp relief cutting typical of the mid-second-century Roman mint masters, with deep letterforms, careful anatomical modeling in the imperial portraiture, and refined, flowing drapery lines on the reverse figure of Libertas.

Obverse Typology and Imperial Iconography

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 exhibits the mature, radiate head of Antoninus Pius facing right. The radiant crown, consisting of stylized triangular solar rays rising directly from the hair band, explicitly denotes the two-as denomination. Antoninus Pius is portrayed in the dignified, stoic realism characteristic of his middle and late reigns. His countenance features a full, neatly trimmed beard, carefully striated locks of hair curling over the brow and down the nape of the neck, a prominent straight nose, and calm, unlined facial planes. The bust is typically cut cleanly at the neck truncation, omitting drapery or cuirass in order to focus attention on the civic sobriety and philosophical composure of the princeps. In comparison to the dynamic, militaristic portraiture of Trajan or the heavily Hellenized style of Hadrian, the portraiture of Antoninus Pius on this issue projects constancy, pietas, and domestic tranquility, visually reassuring the Roman public of continuity and disciplined civil governance under the adoptive dynasty.

Reverse Iconography: Libertas and the Pileus

The reverse of this dupondius is dedicated to Libertas, the personification of civil freedom and political liberty. She is depicted draped in a traditional long stola, standing and oriented toward the right. In her outstretched right hand, Libertas holds forth the pileus, the distinctive brimless felt cap traditionally bestowed upon Roman slaves during formal manumission ceremonies to mark their transition to the status of freedmen. Her left hand is extended outward in a gesture of open generosity. This rightward posture is relatively unusual in Antonine coinage, where personifications more frequently stand facing left or frontal. The pileus serves as an unmistakable emblem of constitutional liberty, asserting that the principate operated in full respect of Roman law, the senate, and the ancient rights of Roman citizens. Flanking the lower fields of the reverse are the prominent letters S and C (Senatus Consulto), confirming that the coin was produced under the formal legal decree of the Roman Senate, which retained constitutional oversight over state base-metal coinage.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 are rendered in classical Roman monumental capitals, carefully balanced around the flan perimeter. The obverse legend reads continuously clockwise: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVII. This formula combines the emperor's adopted imperial name (Antoninus Augustus Pius) with his civic honorific Pater Patriae (Father of the Country) and his constitutional office: Tribunicia Potestate XVII (holder of the tribunician power for the seventeenth time). The inclusion of TR P XVII provides a firm chronological anchor for the issue. The reverse legend reads LIBERTAS COS IIII, supplemented by the field letters S C across the lower left and right fields. The reverse text explicitly names the personification and notes the emperor's fourth consulship (Consul Quartum). Antoninus Pius entered his fourth and final consulship on January 1, 145 AD, meaning that by the seventeenth year of his tribunician authority, the consular iteration remained COS IIII. The legend emphasizes that political liberty flourished directly under the auspices of the four-time consul and princeps.

Typology and Absolute Chronology

The chronology of RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 is securely established by the synchronization of the imperial tribunician count. Antoninus Pius received his initial tribunician power upon his adoption in late February 138 AD and subsequently renewed it annually on December 10, following standard Antonine administrative custom. Consequently, his seventeenth tribunician renewal (TR P XVII) commenced on December 10, 153 AD, and concluded on December 9, 154 AD. The production of this specific dupondius type is therefore tightly bounded between late 153 AD and late 154 AD. In the classification scheme established by Mattingly and Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, type 920 is grouped alongside contemporaneous sestertii and asses bearing identical or related reverse types celebrating Annona, Fortuna, and Libertas. While sestertii and asses of the seventeenth tribunician year occasionally feature Libertas standing left, this dupondius type specifically documents the right-facing variant, representing a discrete die-cutting series within the Rome mint's base-metal workshops during the 153 to 154 AD emission cycle.

Circulation and Deposition Patterns

Once released from the mint in Rome, dupondii of Antoninus Pius entered widespread circulation across the empire, with particular concentration in the Italian peninsula, the Gallic provinces, the Rhine-Danube military frontier, and Roman Britain. Because base-metal denominations were minted with substantial fiduciary value rather than pure intrinsic metal parity, dupondii moved easily through regional commercial hubs and urban market centers, paying wages, settling taxes, and facilitating small-scale purchases. Excavation contexts across Roman sites show that mid-second-century orichalcum dupondii remained in active circulation for several generations, often continuing to pass through commerce well into the third century AD. As the zinc content of later imperial orichalcum declined under the Severan and soldier-emperor periods, earlier high-quality orichalcum issues such as RIC III Antoninus Pius 920 experienced severe wear, frequently losing portrait details and reverse legends prior to ultimate deposition in hoards or stray losses.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 320-325
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 140-143, no. 920
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 920. ric.3.ant.920
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Antoninus Pius. Typenkatalog der Kupferpragungen 153-154 n. Chr.