Pupienus Silver Antoninianus

Monetary Context and the Revival of the Radiate

The introduction of the silver antoninianus under Pupienus and Balbinus represents a critical turning point in third-century Roman currency. First issued by Caracalla in AD 215 as a tariffed double denarius containing only roughly 1.5 times the silver of a denarius, the radiate denomination had been phased out under Severus Alexander by AD 222. Maximinus Thrax did not strike the denomination during his reign from AD 235 to 238, relying instead on heavy emissions of traditional denarii to fund frontier campaigns. When the Roman Senate revolted against Maximinus in early AD 238 and elected Pupienus and Balbinus following the sudden deaths of Gordian I and II in Africa, the new administration faced immediate fiscal distress. Emptying the senatorial and civic treasuries was not enough to fund the mobilization of senatorial armies, appease the plebs, and pay generous donatives to suspicious Praetorian soldiers. By reintroducing the antoninianus, the regime effectively extracted a profit through overvaluation, issuing coins with a nominal value of two denarii while containing significantly less intrinsic metal. This pragmatic measure provided immediate liquidity during the crisis of AD 238 and permanently shifted Roman monetary practice toward the radiate standard.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

All silver antoniniani bearing the portrait of Pupienus were produced at the single official imperial mint located in Rome. Production was compressed into a brief period between approximately April and late July or early August of AD 238. Die studies and metallurgical analyses published by modern numismatists demonstrate that the mint operated with remarkable efficiency despite the ongoing civil conflict. Officinae within the Rome mint were divided between Pupienus, Balbinus, and the young Caesar Gordian III, maintaining parallel production streams to ensure absolute visual parity between the co-emperors. Pupienus antoniniani were struck from debased silver alloy containing between 40 and 50 percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper and trace elements. The weight standard averaged between 4.40 and 5.20 grams, roughly 1.5 times the weight of contemporary denarii which hovered around 2.80 to 3.10 grams. Flans were prepared rapidly, often displaying irregular edges, minor split flans, and varying flan thicknesses, reflecting the urgent, wartime pace of die striking in the capital.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of the antoninianus displays the radiate bust of Pupienus facing right, wearing the radiate crown that had functioned since the reign of Caracalla as the formal visual indicator of a double-denomination piece. Unlike the smooth, youthful portraits of the Severan dynasty, Pupienus is depicted in the severe, realistic style characteristic of soldier-emperors and veteran senatorial magistrates. Die cutters rendered him as an elderly, stern commander with a closely cropped beard, square jaw, furrowed brow, and prominent, weathered facial features. The bust is typically draped and cuirassed, though some dies present him solely in military cuirass, emphasizing his role as the executive military partner appointed to march north to Ravenna and Aquileia against Maximinus while Balbinus managed civil administration in Rome. The portraiture visually projects senatorial gravitas, discipline, and veteran martial capability.

Reverse Iconography and Shared Collegiality

The reverse repertoire of Pupienus silver antoniniani is distinctively focused, differing sharply from the varied pantheon of gods and personifications found on contemporary denarii and bronze sestertii. The vast majority of reverse dies feature two right hands clasped together in the traditional Roman gesture of dextrarum iunctio. This powerful symbol, derived from senatorial and military traditions of fidelity, was deployed to project an image of seamless mutual loyalty between two men known to have been personal rivals. The clasped hands motif appears under several closely related ideological formulations, including Amor Mutuus, Caritas Mutua, Fides Mutua, and Pietas Mutua. Another significant type features clasped hands with the legend Patres Senatus, directly crediting the senatorial order as the origin and guardian of legitimate imperial rule. While standard personifications like Victoria or Pax occasionally appear across the broader imperial series, the clasped hands remained the signature iconographic emblem of the joint radiate coinage.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse epigraphy on Pupienus antoniniani is remarkably uniform. It consistently reads IMP CAES M CLOD PVPIENVS AVG, abbreviating Imperator Caesar Marcus Clodius Pupienus Augustus. Unlike the extended titular formulas of the second century that recorded tribunician power, consulships, and imperatorial acclamations, the urgent issues of AD 238 utilized succinct nomenclature suited to immediate recognition. The reverse inscriptions are uniquely tailored to emphasize fraternal harmony and senatorial authority. Principal legends include CARITAS MVTVA AVGG, signifying mutual imperial affection; FIDES MVTVA AVGG, proclaiming mutual faith between the Augusti; PIETAS MVTVA AVGG, expressing dutiful reciprocal devotion; and AMICITIA AVGVSTORVM, celebrating the friendship of the co-emperors. In each of these cases, the double G in AVGG epigraphically confirms the collegiate rule of two Augusti. In addition, the legend PATRES SENATVS commemorates the appointment of the rulers by the Conscript Fathers, underscoring constitutional legitimacy against the military tyranny attributed to Maximinus.

Typological Classification and Chronological Development

Catalogued primarily under Roman Imperial Coinage Volume IV Part II, the antoniniani of Pupienus fall into a tightly defined typology produced across a single brief chronological phase in AD 238. Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham classified the series according to their reverse legends, identifying RIC 9 (Caritas Mutua Augg), RIC 10 (Concordia Augg), RIC 11 (Fides Mutua Augg), RIC 12 (Patres Senatus), and RIC 13 (Pietas Mutua Augg). Because Pupienus held power for approximately ninety-nine days, modern scholars do not identify successive chronological phases or substantive weight reforms within the issue. Die-link studies by Roger Bland show that dies were paired indiscriminately across officinae, with shared reverse motifs struck concurrently for both Pupienus and Balbinus. This indicates that the various clasped-hands reverse legends were not issued sequentially to commemorate distinct events, but were instead produced simultaneously across coordinated mint workshops to maximize output before the abrupt downfall of the emperors at the hands of the Praetorian Guard.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Impact

Because the antoniniani of Pupienus were produced in immense volume over a matter of weeks, they entered military and civil circulation rapidly. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Balkans, and the eastern provinces indicates that these coins circulated widely alongside earlier Severan denarii and the subsequent massive emissions of Gordian III. While individual specimens are scarce compared to the prolific issues of later third-century emperors, they regularly appear in savings hoards buried during the military emergencies of the AD 250s and 260s, such as the Dorchester and Gibraltar hoards. The economic success of the reintroduced radiate during Pupienus and Balbinus's brief tenure was so pronounced that Gordian III made it the dominant silver denomination of his reign, eventually displacing the silver denarius almost entirely from regular circulation. The antoninianus of Pupienus thus served as the direct catalyst for the complete transformation of the mid-third-century Roman currency system.

References

1. The Roman Coinage of A.D. 238 Revisited. Revue Numismatique, 6e serie, 38, pp. 63-88
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage: The History and Coinage of the Roman Empire. Vol. 1, pp. 444-447
3. Devaluation, depenses et prix a Rome aux IIe et IIIe siecles. Revue Numismatique, 6e serie, 20, pp. 273-301
4. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 128-135
5. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284. pp. 147-152
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 173-178, nos. 9-13