Marcus Aurelius Sestertius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 964

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the mid-to-late Antonine era, the monetary system of the Roman Empire remained structurally organized around the trimetallic standard established by Augustus and lightly modified under Nero. The sestertius represented the premier copper-alloy denomination, valued at four bronze asses, two brass dupondii, or one quarter of a silver denarius. In the fiscal framework of the late 160s AD, base-metal coinage shouldered the vast majority of day-to-day commercial transactions across civilian markets, municipal taxation, and urban retail trades in Rome and the western provinces. Unlike silver and gold coinages, which were frequently dispatched directly to legions garrisoning the frontiers, large bronze issues like the sestertius primarily serviced urban centers and provincial administration. By the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the imperial treasury faced severe economic strain caused by military expenditures along the Danube and disruptions from the Antonine Plague. Although denarii underwent minor debasement in fineness to manage state obligations, the sestertius maintained an essential role as a trusted fiat token underpinned by imperial prestige and senatorial sanction. Struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc brass, the sestertius conveyed ideological motifs with visual clarity due to its expansive diameter and substantial relief, making it a primary medium for conveying religious, dynastic, and civic priorities to the wider public.

Mint Location and Manufacturing Technique

The entire regular production of base-metal coinage bearing the senatorial formula S C during this period was centralized at the imperial mint in the city of Rome. Epigraphic and numismatic evidence demonstrates that the Rome mint operated within an organized workshop structure (officinae), which handled the intensive task of alloying, casting, and hand-striking massive quantities of bronze and brass blanks. Individual flans were produced using open or two-part molds, generating thick discs that were subsequently brought to striking temperature or struck cold depending on metallographic composition. For RIC III Marcus Aurelius 964, the nominal weight standard generally clustered between 22 and 27 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 29 and 32 millimeters, though production tolerances admitted broad deviations across individual specimens. Skilled celators cut the dies into iron or bronze blocks using gravers, punches, and drill points. The striking operation required coordinated labor, where a flan was placed on the stationary lower obverse die embedded in an anvil while an upper reverse die punch was manually aligned and struck with a heavy hammer. This manual minting process led to typical variations in die axis, flan beveling, and centering, while the orichalcum alloy lent the freshly struck sestertius a vibrant, reflective golden tone distinct from pure copper issues.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 964 presents the laureate head of Marcus Aurelius facing right. By the year AD 168-169, the portraiture of the emperor had fully transitioned into his mature, contemplative stylistic phase. Sculpted with a heavy, multi-tiered beard of deeply drilled, tight corkscrew curls and a thick mustache, the portrait embodies the visual iconography of the philosopher-emperor. The hair is rendered in dense waves receding slightly from a high, furrowed forehead, reflecting the somatic tolls of age, military command, and administrative stress. The laurel wreath (corona laurea), tied at the base of the skull with two trailing ribbons falling down the neck, symbolizes triumph, sovereign command, and religious piety. Celators at the Rome mint captured a solemn, severe expression, characterized by heavy eyelids, prominent brow ridges, and an unyielding jawline. This portrait convention deliberate eschewed idealized youth in favor of gravitas, highlighting the emperor's philosophical commitment to duty amid the severe frontier crises and civic health emergencies affecting the empire.

Reverse Iconography: Salus and the Sacred Serpent

The reverse iconography centers on the Roman goddess Salus, standing draped and facing toward the left. In her right hand, she extends a patera (a shallow libation dish) over a low, cylindrical or rectangular altar positioned at her feet, from which a sacred snake coils upward to feed on the offered nourishment. In her left hand, Salus cradles a tall vertical or slightly transverse sceptre, which rests upon the ground line and underscores her sovereign and divine authority. Her garment is an ample stola falling in classical folds around her feet, occasionally gathered with a palla draped over her left arm. In the Greco-Roman religious pantheon, Salus was the divine personification of safety, physical well-being, and collective salvation, closely assimilated to the Greek Hygieia. The feeding of the serpent, a traditional chthonic creature associated with healing and renewal in the cult of Aesculapius, denotes the proper maintenance of the pax deorum (peace with the gods) through regular ritual offerings. By portraying Salus feeding the serpent at the altar, the mint underscored an ongoing, active petition for health and protection, an urgent concern during the height of the Antonine Plague.

Epigraphy and Legend Readings

The inscriptions on RIC III Marcus Aurelius 964 are executed in crisp Roman lapidary capitals and convey precise titular and theological messages. The obverse legend reads M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXIII, transcribed as Marcus Antoninus Augustus, Tribunicia Potestate tertium vicesimum. This text declares the emperor's formal triumphal nomen adopted upon accession, his supreme title of Augustus, and his twenty-third renewal of the tribunician power, the constitutional foundation of his civil authority. On the reverse, the legend reads SALVTI AVG COS III S C. The dedication SALVTI AVG represents a dative construction (Saluti Augusti), translating to 'To the Health (or Safety) of the Augustus.' This explicit dedication indicates that the coin functioned as an official prayer or thanksgiving for the emperor's survival and vigor. The phrase COS III records his third consulship, a tenure initially assumed in AD 161 and maintained without subsequent ordinary consulships. Finally, the letters S C (Senatus Consulto, 'By Decree of the Senate') flank the goddess in the reverse field, validating the formal authority under which base-metal issues were struck in accordance with Roman constitutional tradition.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the chronological taxonomy developed by Harold Mattingly and later refined by Wolfgang Szaivert, this issue is strictly dated by the tribunician count TR P XXIII to the administrative period between December 10, AD 168 and December 9, AD 169. This window marks a dramatic transition in Antonine history: the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus ended abruptly when Verus suffered a fatal stroke in early AD 169 near Altinum during their withdrawal from Aquileia. Following Verus's consecration, Marcus Aurelius ruled as sole Augustus until Commodus was raised to co-rule years later. Numismatists distinguish RIC 964 as the bare laureate bust type, standing in typological contrast to neighboring varieties that incorporate drapery, cuirasses, or alternative reverse postures of Salus, such as those where she sits feeding a serpent from her lap. Although the Salus motif recurred periodically across several tribunician years during the Marcomannic Wars, the specific combination of TR P XXIII on the obverse with SALVTI AVG COS III on the reverse isolates this type to the specific operational year of AD 168-169, reflecting the intense anxieties surrounding imperial health during that singular campaign season.

Circulation, Hoard Contexts, and Wear Patterns

Upon leaving the Rome mint, sestertii of Marcus Aurelius circulated broadly across the Italian peninsula and the western provinces, including Gaul, Hispania, Britannia, and the Rhine-Danube military zones. Because large base-metal coins possessed high purchasing power relative to fractional bronze, they did not move as rapidly as quadrantes or asses, resulting in sustained circulation periods that often spanned several decades or even a century. Hoard evidence from western Europe demonstrates that Antonine sestertii frequently remained in active commercial pools well into the Severan era and the mid-third century crisis, often accumulating substantial surface abrasion and edge damage before final loss or deposition. In damp or aerated soils, the orichalcum alloy was susceptible to localized corrosion, giving rise to diverse patinas ranging from deep olive-green to brown and reddish cuprite encrustations. Sestertii carrying the Salus reverse were valued not only for their intrinsic purchasing utility but also as visible symbols of imperial persistence, circulating alongside worn Flavian, Trajanic, and Hadrianic bronzes in the poly-denominational economy of the Roman world.

References

1. I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali: Vol. III-2, Marcus Aurelius. no. 352
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 964. ric.3.m_aur.964
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 290, no. 964
4. Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Marcus Aurelius in Wien (MIR 18). MIR 18, nos. 177-179