RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A Sestertius

Monetary Context and Denominational System

During the reign of Antoninus Pius, the Roman currency system operated on the tripartite bimetallic and base metal framework established by Augustus and preserved with gradual structural adjustments across the early principate. At the pinnacle stood the gold aureus and silver denarius, while everyday urban commerce and large-scale state expenditures were mediated by a substantial base metal hierarchy. The sestertius formed the anchor of this base metal system, valued at four bronze asses or two dupondii, and representing one quarter of an imperial silver denarius. Struck from orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc alloy often modernly termed brass or bronze, the sestertius was the largest and most prestigious base metal coin in active circulation. Its physical size and purchasing power gave it exceptional visibility across both civic and military spheres. Large denominations of this class were regularly employed by the central administration to distribute imperial donatives, execute civic infrastructure payments, and disseminate state ideology. The issue of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A in AD 145 served an explicitly public monetary and political function, ensuring that the dynastic union between Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger was embedded into the daily monetary transactions of Rome and the western provinces.

Mint Operation and Production Technology

All regular issues of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A were produced exclusively by the imperial mint at Rome, which held an effective monopoly over the production of official senatorial copper-alloy denominations in the western empire during the mid-second century AD. The production process involved the high-temperature casting of heavy orichalcum flans in specialized mould batteries, which were subsequent to cooling adjusted by file or cold chisel to approximate the target weight standard. Blank flans were heated to achieve malleability before being positioned manually between two engraved bronze or iron dies. The lower die, set firmly into an anvil, bore the obverse portrait of Marcus Aurelius, while the reverse die was affixed to a hand-held punch struck with repeated blows of a heavy sledgehammer. Although ancient mint procedures did not prioritize exact piece-by-piece weight uniformity, sestertii of the middle Antonine period typically clustered around a theoretical mean of approximately 25 to 28 grams with diameters ranging from 30 to 34 millimetres. The senatorial letters S C (Senatus Consulto) stamped on the reverse reflect the traditional constitutional protocol under which base metal denominations were produced under senatorial sanction, while executive direction and financial control remained firmly under the imperial palace and the procurator monetae.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A presents a sensitive and idealized portrait of Marcus Aurelius as Caesar, shown with a bare head facing right without laurel wreath or radiate crown. This lack of headgear directly reflected his constitutional status as heir apparent rather than reigning Augustus, maintaining the modesty and deference central to Antonine political presentation. Marcus Aurelius is rendered with youthful yet mature features, thick curls of hair styled in compact tufts, and a light, closely cropped beard indicative of his transition into senior magistracies and philosophical maturity. The die-engravers of the Rome mint captured a tranquil, stoic countenance consistent with official Antonine portrait styles, avoiding dramatic Hellenistic movement in favour of steady civic dignity. The design demonstrates exceptional cutting depth and careful modelling of the facial planes, neck musculature, and facial hair, serving to establish visual continuity with the features of his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius.

Reverse Iconography: Concordia and the Imperial Wedding

The reverse design of this sestertius features a complex three-figure tableau celebrating the imperial wedding of Marcus Aurelius and Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger, solemnized in AD 145. Marcus Aurelius stands on the left, clad in a civil toga, facing right toward his bride. Faustina stands on the right, draped in traditional Roman stola and palla, facing left. The central action of the composition is the dextrarum iunctio, the solemn clasping of right hands that formed the core ritual gesture of the Roman marriage ceremony, legalizing and sacralizing the marital contract. Positioned between and slightly behind the bridal pair stands the divine personification Concordia, facing right, who places her arms around or behind their shoulders, visually bestowing divine harmony upon the union. The letters S C are disposed symmetrically across the field to either side of the figures. This iconography drew upon established Julio-Claudian and Trajanic motifs of familial concord while adapting them to present the Antonine succession as divinely sanctioned, peaceful, and permanent. The public visual message assured the Roman world that stability and legitimate dynastic continuation were securely anchored.

Epigraphy and Titulary Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A are executed in clean, classic imperial epigraphic capitals and convey precise constitutional and religious meaning. The obverse legend reads AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F COS II, progressing clockwise along the flan perimeter. This legend documents Marcus Aurelius under his adopted name, identifies him explicitly as Caesar, emphasizes his adoption as the son of the reigning emperor (Augusti Pii Filius), and records his second consulship (Consul II), which he assumed on January 1, AD 145 alongside Antoninus Pius. The reverse legend is succinct yet ideologically weighty: VOTA PVBLICA, positioned in the exergue or encircling the upper flan perimeter, accompanied by S C in the field. The phrase Vota Publica designates the official public vows offered by the Roman state and its priestly colleges for the health, prosperity, and fruitful continuance of the imperial family on the occasion of the dynastic marriage. Through these texts, the coinage clearly distinguished between Marcus Aurelius as junior colleague and the senior authority of Antoninus Pius, whose name is embedded as father and Augustus.

Typology, Dating, and Related Issues

The striking of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A is chronologically fixed to AD 145 by the conjunction of Marcus Aurelius holding his second consulship (COS II) and the historical occurrence of his marriage to Faustina the Younger in the spring of that year. Within the typological arrangement established in the Roman Imperial Coinage corpus, this specific sestertius type belongs to a wider, coordinated nuptial issue released across multiple denominations, including gold aurei, silver denarii, and middle bronzes. Parallel reverse designs depict variations of the wedding scene, some showing Antoninus Pius presiding as pontifex or featuring small standing figures representing future concord and offspring. In Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham's classification, type 1253A is catalogued as a distinct entry within the coinage struck under Antoninus Pius for Marcus Aurelius Caesar, distinguished specifically by the presence of Concordia behind the bridal couple combined with the bare-headed obverse portrait and the VOTA PVBLICA reverse legend. Dies for this emission were executed during the first half of AD 145 and continued into limited production through the immediate post-nuptial period.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

As an essential base metal coin of high nominal purchasing power, the sestertius circulating under Antoninus Pius experienced prolonged and widespread geographic dispersion. Archaeological excavation assemblages and casual losses demonstrate that sestertii struck at Rome in the mid-second century circulated heavily throughout Italy, the Gauls, the Rhine frontier, Britain, and along the Danube basin. Because base metal coins were seldom hoarded with the same exclusivity as gold or high-grade silver, sestertii remained active in commercial channels for decades. Specimens of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A frequently exhibit substantial circulation wear, surface smoothing, and environmental patination typical of decades spent in active market exchange. Many examples continued to pass from hand to hand well into the reigns of Commodus and the Severan emperors before finally being withdrawn, lost, or countermarked. Evidence from stratified site deposits confirms that matrimonial commemorative bronzes were not treated as mere souvenir medals, but were fully absorbed into the functional military pay and civic supply lines of the Roman western provinces.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Severus Alexander. pp. 273-275
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 177-178, no. 1253A
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A. RIC III Antoninus Pius 1253A
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. pp. 102-108