Crispina Bronze Sestertius, RIC III Commodus 670

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the late second century AD, the Roman monetary system continued to operate under the denominational framework solidified during the Augustan and early imperial periods, albeit under increasing fiscal pressures. The sestertius represented the principal large copper-alloy denomination in everyday commercial circulation, valued at four bronze asses or one-quarter of a silver denarius. Traditionally struck in orichalcum, a golden-hued brass alloy of copper and zinc, the sestertius carried significant weight and purchasing power compared to minor fractional bronzes like the dupondius, as, and quadrans. By the late Antonine period, under the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and into the sole reign of Commodus, the zinc content in Roman orichalcum had declined noticeably due to the progressive recycling of older coinage and shifting metallurgical supplies. Despite compositional shifts toward mixed copper alloys, the sestertius retained its status as the most visually impressive and prestigious base-metal coin of the empire. Its broad surface area provided an ideal flan for detailed imperial portraiture and allegorical reverse compositions. Crispina's bronze issues, produced under the authority of Commodus, functioned not merely as routine transactional currency within Italy and the western provinces, but also as an official medium for projecting the presence of the Augusta across provincial civilian and military markets.

Mint Operation and Metallurgical Production

The sestertii catalogued as RIC III Commodus 670 were produced exclusively at the central imperial mint in Rome. In this era, the Rome mint was organized into distinct administrative workshops or officinae, handling different metals and denominations under imperial procurators. Production of the heavy sestertius blanks required cast flans that were heated and struck between two carefully engraved iron or bronze dies. The lower die, set into an anvil, held the empress's obverse portrait, while the upper punch die bore the reverse type and the senatorial authority mark S C. Striking these large brass flans demanded considerable manual force from mint workmen, often leading to slight flan irregularites, edge fissures, or modest eccentricities in centering. Metallurgical analyses of late second-century sestertii indicate an alloy transitioning from true orichalcum toward a quaternary bronze containing varying levels of copper, zinc, tin, and lead. Surviving specimens of this issue typically weigh in the range of 18 to 26 grams with diameters between 28 and 32 millimeters, demonstrating standard weight tolerances for late Antonine sestertii rather than modern mechanical precision. Die alignment was predominantly upright or semi-regular, following the standard imperial six o'clock or twelve o'clock axes.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC III Commodus 670 presents a right-facing, draped bust of Empress Crispina. Her portrait illustrates the distinct and intricate coiffure adopted by the young Augusta, reflecting the aristocratic hairstyling trends of the late Antonine court. Her hair is elegantly waved in horizontal ridges along the crown of the head, drawn back over the ears, and gathered at the nape into a large, tightly woven or plaited chignon known as a bun or nest. This sculptural hairstyle is directly related to the earlier styles worn by her mother-in-law Faustina the Younger and sister-in-law Lucilla, displaying continuity in Antonine dynastic fashion. Crispina's facial features are rendered with youthful naturalism: a straight Roman nose, delicate lips, and smooth facial contours framed by carefully draped fabric around the shoulders. The die engravers achieved considerable relief, capturing subtle textures in the fabric folds and braided locks. While minor variations exist between different individual dies, such as the size of the bun, the fullness of the drapery, or the angle of the truncation, the typology remains cohesive across the Rome mint's output for this issue.

Reverse Iconography of Pudicitia

The reverse of the coin features Pudicitia, the personification of modesty, chastity, and traditional female virtue in Roman religion and public morality. She is depicted draped in long stola and palla, seated facing left on an ornate throne or stool. In this specific type, Pudicitia is shown resting her hand against her breast or drawing her veil outward, an established artistic motif signifying feminine modesty and conjugal fidelity. Her seated posture conveys stability, quiet dignitas, and protective virtue within the imperial household. In imperial ideology, Pudicitia was an essential moral attribute attributed to empresses, framing the Augusta as an exemplary matron and legitimate mother of future dynastic heirs. Flanking the seated figure in the field are the large letters S and C, denoting Senatus Consulto. This explicit formula confirmed that the issue was minted by decree of the Roman Senate, adhering to the centuries-old constitutional convention governing base-metal coinage. The composition is enclosed within a dotted border, balancing the vertical posture of the seated figure against the curved lettering of the surrounding legend.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Meaning

The legends on RIC III Commodus 670 are concise, conventional, and strictly framed around imperial titles and traditional civic virtues. The obverse legend reads CRISPINA AVGVSTA, curving clockwise from the lower left around the empress's portrait. Crispina is named directly without paternal patronymics or spousal lineage, relying entirely on her elevated title of Augusta, which was conferred upon her around the time of her marriage to Commodus in AD 178. The lettering is rendered in standard Roman monumental capitals, with neat letterforms and consistent serifs typical of the late second-century Rome mint. On the reverse, the legend reads PVDICITIA, positioned along the upper perimeter above the seated personification. In the left and right fields sits the abbreviation S C, standing for Senatus Consulto. The absence of consular dates, tribunician counts, or imperial acclamations on Crispina's coinage is standard for Roman imperial women, whose legends focused on moral attributes, divine associations, and titles rather than magisterial chronology.

Typological Placement and Chronological Debate

The chronological envelope for RIC III Commodus 670 spans from the accession of Crispina as Augusta in AD 178 to the end of her visibility on imperial coinage, generally placed before or around AD 188 to 191. Bruttia Crispina was wed to Commodus in the summer of AD 178 during the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Following the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, Commodus became sole emperor, and Crispina remained the primary empress until court intrigues disrupted the marriage. Ancient literary sources, notably Herodian and the Historia Augusta, record that Crispina was accused of adultery, banished to the island of Capri, and subsequently put to death. However, ancient historians provide conflicting indications regarding the exact year of her exile, with modern scholars dating the rupture between AD 182, shortly after the conspiracy of Lucilla, and AD 187 or 188. Because her coinage bears no renewable tribunician numbers, precise annual dating remains difficult. Some numismatists suggest her Pudicitia issues belong to the early phase of her marriage, celebrating marital purity and the hope for dynastic offspring between AD 178 and 182, while broader catalogue ranges maintain an overarching timeframe extending up to AD 191.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Afterlife

As standard imperial sestertii, coins of RIC III Commodus 670 circulated widely throughout the western territories of the Roman Empire, including Italy, the Gallic provinces, the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and Roman Britain. Sestertii functioned as daily workhorses of market exchange, used for paying wages, acquiring provisions, and settling civic dues. Archaeological site finds and hoard deposits demonstrate that late Antonine sestertii often remained in active circulation for decades, frequently showing significant wear before being lost, discarded, or buried in third-century hoards. Despite Crispina's disgrace, exile, and eventual execution, her bronze coinage was not subjected to a systematic, empire-wide program of damnatio memoriae or physical erasure. Specimens of RIC III Commodus 670 routinely survive with intact portraits and legends, confirming that the imperial authorities rarely recalled or defaced her base-metal currency. The coin continued to circulate alongside the issues of Faustina II, Lucilla, and later Severan empresses until the mid-third-century monetary crises curtailed the production and circulation of large orichalcum denominations.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Crispina Sestertii
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 442, no. 670
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Commodus 670. ric.3.com.670
4. Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Commodus (MIR 18). Moneta Imperii Romani 18