Roman Empire. In the name of Antonia, wife of Nero Claudius Drusus.
Aureus circa 41-45, AV 7.79 g. ANTONIA AVGVSTA Draped bust r., wearing crown of corn ears. Rev. CONSTANTIAE – AVGVSTI Antonia as Constantia standing facing, holding long torch and cornucopia. C 1. BMC Claudius 109. RIC Claudius 65. CBN Claudius 12. Calicó 318.
Rare. Minor marks in field and nicks on edge, otherwise good very fine

Ex Maison Palombo 18, 2019, 60.
*** This aureus is part of the series that was struck by the emperor Claudius in honour of his deceased parents – in this case his mother, Antonia. Neither of Claudius' parents had been honoured with coinage during the previous three regimes, so the task was left to their afflicted 50-year-old son, whom no one could have predicted would one day be emperor. Antonia, even more so than Livia, was the model of a Roman noblewoman. Her parents Marc Antony and Octavia (Augustus' sister) represented both sides of the civil war that ended at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., and from her father, who died shortly after Actium, she inherited an economic empire in the east. Throughout her life Antonia managed her considerable business, political and domestic responsibilities with skill and personal flair. While in her late teens Antonia married Livia's youngest son Nero Claudius Drusus, with whom she seems to have been ideally matched. Together they had three children, with the youngest (the future emperor Claudius) being born in the summer of 10 B.C. on the same day her husband dedicated the Altar of Lugdunum to Augustus. To Antonia at that time, life must have seemed unimprovable. However, the remainder of her life would be a string of sore disappointments. In 9 B.C. her husband died tragically (and she refused ever to remarry), her youngest son Claudius developed severe physical disabilities, her promising son Germanicus was murdered in A.D. 19, and her only daughter, Livilla, was forcibly starved to death (by Antonia herself) after it was exposed that she had poisoned her husband. Antonia's grandchildren fared no better: the three girls were terribly disturbed and unfortunate, her two eldest grandsons were executed after being branded public enemies, and the behaviour of her youngest grandson, Caligula, was so objectionable that many historians believe Antonia took her own life in 37 because she could not face the prospect of living in the reign of Caligula. The reverse of this aureus features Antonia in the guise of Constantia, the personification of courage and perseverance, both qualities for which she was renowned.