Lucilla Bronze As, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764

Monetary Context and Imperial Function

During the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the Roman monetary system maintained the traditional Augustan denomination structure, organized hierarchically from gold and silver down to base-metal civic coinage. The copper-alloy as, valued at one-sixteenth of an imperial silver denarius or one-quarter of a brass sestertius, served as a primary workhorse denomination for everyday retail transactions throughout Italy and the western provinces. While the sestertius and dupondius were typically manufactured from orichalcum (a bright brass alloy composed of copper and zinc), the as was conventionally produced in relatively pure copper, giving it a distinctive reddish color that aided users in distinguishing it from the slightly heavier brass dupondius. Base-metal issues bearing the names and portraits of imperial women fulfilled a dual economic and ideological purpose. In strictly monetary terms, they supplied necessary low-value liquidity required for military payroll disbursements, daily food purchases, and civic markets. Ideologically, issues struck for imperial women like Lucilla conveyed dynastic legitimacy directly to the civilian populace. Because aes coinage enjoyed an exceptionally wide domestic circulation across market stalls, taverns, and urban centers, reverse types dedicated to divine virtues, marriage, and fertility reinforced public confidence in the durability of the ruling Antonine house. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764 reflects this intersection of fiscal utility and dynastic propaganda, asserting the divine auspices guarding the imperial line.

Production and Mint Organization

The entire regular aes coinage for Lucilla under Marcus Aurelius was struck exclusively at the central imperial mint in Rome. Throughout the second century AD, the Rome mint operated under a centralized bureaucratic administration supervised by the imperial procurator monetae, employing highly skilled die-engravers, flan-casters, and striking teams organized into specialized production workshops (officinae). Base-metal flans for the as were prepared by casting circular blanks in open or two-part molds before they were hammered into final planchets and struck between fixed lower anvil dies and handheld upper trussel dies. Physical parameters for the as during the mid-Antonine period adhered to an average weight standard clustering between 9.5 and 11.5 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 24 and 27 millimeters. However, individual specimens often exhibit considerable variation in weight and module due to the Roman mint's practice of striking aes coins al marco (adjusting the total output weight of a batch of metal to a target pound standard rather than weighing each individual blank). Striking quality on this type is generally neat, exhibiting crisp letterforms and refined portraiture characteristic of the experienced engravers assigned to imperial portrait dies at Rome.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764 presents a refined right-facing bust of Lucilla, draped in a classical mantle. Engravers at the Rome mint captured the empress during her late adolescence and early twenties, rendering her facial features with the idealized symmetry and youthful dignity typical of Antonine court art. Her nose is straight, the jawline delicately contoured, and the gaze directed forward with calm composure. Central to the iconographic identity of Lucilla's coinage is her intricate hairstyle. The hair is carefully parted down the center, gathered into soft, undulating horizontal waves that sweep back along the sides of the head to cover the upper ears, and coiled into a large, braided bun or chignon resting low at the nape of the neck. This coiffure represents an evolution of the hairstyles worn by her mother, Faustina the Younger, and established a widespread trend in private Roman portrait sculpture across the empire. The drapery of her tunic and mantle is meticulously executed, featuring gathered folds across the shoulder and neckline, underscoring both aristocratic modesty and imperial refinement.

Reverse Iconography: Venus with Apple and Sceptre

The reverse iconography centers on Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and matrimonial union. Venus is depicted standing with her torso turned slightly toward the left, draped in a full-length stola and mantle that falls gracefully to her feet. In her extended right hand, she holds a round apple, while her left hand cradles or rests upon a tall, vertical sceptre held upright against her side. The inclusion of the apple evokes the mythological Judgment of Paris, wherein Venus was awarded the golden apple as the fairest of all goddesses, symbolically linking the divine beauty and virtue of Venus directly to the young empress. Concurrently, the sceptre serves as a traditional attribute of majesty and divine authority, emphasizing that the goddess acts not merely as a symbol of physical allure, but as a sovereign protector of the Roman state and imperial lineage. Flanking Venus in the lower left and right fields are the letters S and C, representing Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'). This formulaic inscription reflects the traditional constitutional authority under which base-metal aes denominations were authorized in the city of Rome.

Epigraphy and Legends

The epigraphic program of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764 communicates royal parentage and divine favor through standardized Latin formulas. The obverse legend reads unbroken around the circumference: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F. This formula is rendered in the dative case (Lucillae Augustae Antonini Augusti Filiae, meaning 'To Lucilla Augusta, daughter of Antoninus Augustus'), or alternatively read in the nominative. By explicitly naming her father as Antoninus Augustus (Marcus Aurelius), the legend emphasizes her royal bloodline and hereditary rank within the Antonine dynasty, reinforcing her prestige as an empress born into the imperial purple. The reverse legend is concise, reading VENVS across the upper perimeter, paired with S C divided across the lower fields. The simplicity of the single-word reverse legend reflects a deliberate stylistic choice characteristic of mid-Antonine coin design, where divine virtues and patron deities were invoked directly by name rather than through lengthy explanatory epithets. The lettering is composed of classic Roman square capitals with fine serifs, cut into the dies with balanced spacing and high typographic clarity.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Numismatists date RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764 to the period between AD 164 and AD 169. Lucilla was elevated to the status of Augusta around the time of her marriage to Lucius Verus in Ephesus in AD 164. The use of the obverse legend identifying her as the daughter of Antoninus (ANTONINI AVG F) was primarily struck during the lifetime of Lucius Verus. Following Verus's sudden death in early AD 169 and Lucilla's subsequent remarriage to Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, her coinage legends underwent adjustments, gradually shifting to simpler formulas omitting the filial reference. Within the broader numismatic typology, RIC III 1764 belongs to an extensive series of parallel issues struck across multiple metals. Identical or closely related iconography featuring Venus with apple and sceptre was produced simultaneously in gold (aurei), silver (denarii), and bronze (sestertii, catalogued as RIC III 1763, and dupondii). The as type represented by RIC III 1764 is distinguished from its dupondius counterpart by its pure copper fabric and the absence of a radiate crown, as empresses were invariably portrayed without the radiate crown that differentiated male bronze denominations. Scholarly analyses by Szaivert (MIR 18) align this issue with the intermediate phases of Lucilla's Rome mint issues, firmly anchoring it within the joint reign of the two Augusti.

Circulation, Wear, and Archaeological Context

As base-metal currency, asses of this type circulated actively and extensively throughout the western territories of the Roman Empire, including Italy, Gaul, the Germanies, and Britain. Because the as represented a convenient value for daily marketplace spending, coins of this series tended to remain in commercial circulation for many decades. Archaeological finds and hoard deposits demonstrate that mid-second-century asses frequently stayed in use well into the third century, often surviving until the systemic collapse of bronze token coinage during the monetary upheavals of the AD 260s. Due to prolonged circulation, surviving specimens of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764 frequently exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear, rounded details in the high points of Lucilla's hair and the reverse drapery, and edge bruising. In archaeological contexts, specimens are commonly recovered from urban settlement layers, domestic habitation sites, river deposits, and military camp excavations rather than intact monetary hoards, which tended to favor silver and gold or heavy sestertii. Their presence across provincial sites testifies to the efficient interregional dispersal of Rome's aes currency and the broad familiarity of provincial populations with imperial dynastic portraiture.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 576-578
2. Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (MIR 18). Series 14-16 (Lucilla)
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1764. Type ric.3.m_aur.1764
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 354, no. 1764