Antoninus Pius Bronze Sestertius RIC III Antoninus Pius 1146Ab

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the mid-second century AD, the monetary system established under Augustus and reformed by Nero retained its fundamental tripartite structure, in which copper-alloy denominations fulfilled critical civic, commercial, and ideological roles. The sestertius, struck in yellow brass or orichalcum (an alloy composed predominantly of copper with significant zinc content), represented the largest regular base-metal denomination in everyday circulation, valued at one quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses. Because of its expansive flan, measuring roughly 30 to 34 millimeters in diameter, and a theoretical weight standard averaging between 24 and 28 grams, the sestertius provided imperial authorities with an exceptionally legible and prominent surface for public portraiture and detailed religious imagery. Following the sudden death of Empress Faustina the Elder in AD 140, Antoninus Pius leveraged this large denomination to communicate her formal deification to the wider Roman populace. While gold aurei and silver denarii addressed elite, administrative, and military spheres, sestertii circulated widely through everyday civilian markets and urban centers across Italy and the western empire. Type RIC III 1146Ab was produced within this economic and ideological framework, serving both as robust fiduciary currency and as an instrument of state-sanctioned mourning, legitimizing the Antonine dynasty through monumental civic coinage.

Mint Operation and Production Technology

All regular bronze and brass coinage for the imperial house during the reign of Antoninus Pius was struck exclusively at the central mint of Rome. Production of large copper-alloy pieces like RIC III 1146Ab required sophisticated metallurgical control, mechanical craftsmanship, and an organized workshop structure (officinae). Blanks were cast individually in open or two-part molds and subsequently heated prior to striking to allow deep relief without fracturing the brittle orichalcum alloy. Mint engravers hand-carved the dies in negative relief into iron or bronze die blocks, utilizing burins, drills, and punch tools to execute the intricate facial details, hair styling, veil folds, and miniature altar flames. Because the lower anvil die was fixed while the upper punch die absorbed heavy hammer strikes, reverse dies experienced significantly faster wear and replacement rates than obverse dies. While RIC III 1146Ab constitutes an exact typographic pairing characterized by the veiled bust facing right and the Pietas sacrifice scene, minor variations in die cutting, lettering spacing, altar ornaments, and drapery folds are regularly observed across surviving specimens struck from different die pairs. The standard senatorial mark S C was integrated directly into the reverse die design, reflecting the constitutional fiction that base-metal issues were authorized by the Senate, even as production remained under the centralized direction of the imperial procurator monetae.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1146Ab presents a refined portrait bust of the deified empress Faustina the Elder facing right, draped and distinctly veiled. Her hair is elaborately dressed in her characteristic coiffure, gathered into an intricate braided chignon coiled gracefully atop the crown of her head, over which the ceremonial veil (velum) falls down the back of the neck and drapes gently across the shoulders. In Roman religious tradition, the veil signifies ritual purity, modesty (pudicitia), and sacral transition, definitively marking the subject as a deified personage (diva) who had been received into the realm of the immortal gods. Unlike earlier lifetime portraits of Faustina that depicted her head bare or adorned with pearls and stephane diadems, the post-consecration portraits struck in AD 141 introduce a serene, idealized timelessness. Engravers at the Rome mint captured Faustina's patrician profile with delicate modeling of the jawline, lips, and eye, maintaining personal likeness while simultaneously imbuing her features with classical Olympian composure. The surrounding legend frames the portrait in an uninterrupted circular arc, underscoring the solemnity and state importance of her elevated status.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse field of RIC III 1146Ab portrays Pietas as an elegant female personification, draped in traditional Roman garments, standing facing left before a slender, lighted candelabrum-altar. In her right hand, lowered toward the flame, Pietas drops grains of incense, while in her left hand she supports an acerra, the rectangular lidded incense box utilized in Roman sacrificial rites. Flanking the lower fields to the left and right of the figure, the large, bold capital letters S and C denote Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'). The iconography synthesizes both private piety and public civic religion. The burning of incense represents a ritual offering of supplication and thanksgiving, directly evoking the funeral rites performed for the empress and her perpetual worship in the new temple constructed in the Roman Forum. Furthermore, Pietas was a foundational Antonine virtue, embodying filial loyalty, matrimonial devotion, and reciprocal duty between the imperial family, the state, and the gods. By showing Pietas actively engaged in sacrifice, the design presents the memory of Faustina as an exemplar of traditional Roman religious practice and piety, reassuring citizens of the divine favor protecting the empire under Antoninus Pius.

Epigraphic Analysis and Legend Formulations

The legends on RIC III 1146Ab are concise, solemn, and specifically diagnostic for the earliest consecration emissions of AD 141. The obverse legend reads DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, struck without punctuation breaks, reading continuously from the lower left to the lower right around the veiled bust. This specific formula, which retains both the divine title DIVA and the imperial title AVGVSTA alongside the empress's personal nomen, was employed exclusively during the first phase of consecration coinage following her deification in late AD 140. In subsequent issues produced later in the 140s and 150s AD, the obverse legend was significantly abbreviated to the simple, iconic formula DIVA FAVSTINA. On the reverse, the legend reads PIETAS AVG, an abbreviation for Pietas Augusti or Pietas Augustae, translating respectively to 'the Piety of the Emperor' or 'the Piety of the Empress'. This dual interpretative potential allowed the viewer to understand the virtue as reflecting Antoninus's dutiful devotion to his late wife, or Faustina's own lifelong reverence. The monumental letters S C across the lower left and right fields reassert the formal decree of the Senate sanctioning base-metal coinage and confirming Faustina's divine status under Roman public law.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Modern chronological studies of the consecration issues of Faustina the Elder, notably refined by Martin Beckmann through extensive die-link analysis, have demonstrated that the consecration coinage was produced in distinct sequential phases spanning nearly two decades. Type RIC III 1146Ab belongs firmly to Phase 1, dated precisely to AD 141. The diagnostic combination of the long obverse legend DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA with the veiled portrait establishes its issue immediately after the deification decree in late AD 140 or early AD 141. Within the cataloguing framework of The Roman Imperial Coinage, type 1146 is subdivided into distinct variants based on bust drapery and orientation; variant 1146Ab is defined specifically by the veiled bust facing right, distinguishing it from bare-headed variants (1146Aa) or left-facing representations. Although Paul Strack and subsequent numismatists noted the parallel emission of similar Pietas designs across gold aurei, silver denarii, and middle bronzes (dupondii and asses), RIC III 1146Ab refers strictly to this sestertius variety. It was soon superseded around AD 142 and thereafter by emissions bearing the shorter legend DIVA FAVSTINA and alternative reverse deities such as Ceres, Aeternitas, and Vesta, making 1146Ab a tightly constrained chronological benchmark of early Antonine numismatic history.

Circulation Patterns, Wear, and Archaeological Context

Because sestertii represented the primary high-value base-metal denomination for daily transactions, specimens of RIC III 1146Ab entered active circulation throughout Italy, the northwestern European provinces (such as Gaul, Britain, and the Germanies), and parts of the Danubian basin. Consecration sestertii of Faustina the Elder were produced in enormous quantities across her husband's reign, leading to a long circulation life. Hoard evidence and site finds demonstrate that these heavy bronze coins remained in regular commercial use for decades, frequently surviving in circulation contexts well into the third century AD alongside issues of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and the Severans. Prolonged circulation over half a century or more commonly resulted in substantial surface wear, rounding of the high-relief braided hair and veiled folds, and gradual smoothing of the reverse incense altar. Surviving specimens often exhibit dark olive-green, brown, or black patinas characteristic of prolonged burial in aerobic and anaerobic soils across varied European environmental contexts. As archaeological artifacts, these coins testify not only to the persistent economic utility of second-century brass coinage but also to the enduring presence of Faustina's deified image in the daily life of Roman provincial and urban populations.

References

1. The Consecratio Issues of Faustina the Elder: A Die Study. Museum Notes / Numismatic Studies, Phase 1 Analysis
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 233-235
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 1146Ab. Type 1146Ab
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 165, no. 1146
5. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Antoninus Pius. pp. 95-104