★ An Extremely Rare Issue of Antoninus Pius ★

Antoninus Pius AV Aureus. Rome, AD 152. IMP CAES T AEL HADR ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, laureate head to right / TR POT XV COS IIII, Antoninus on horseback to left, raising right hand in salutation, and cradling parazonium with left arm. RIC 214; C. 965 var. (COS III); BMCRE 744; Calicó 1665 (same obverse die). 7.23g, 20mm, 6h.

Fleur De Coin. Extremely Rare; no other examples offered at auction in the past two decades.

From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 41, 20 November 2007, lot 89; 
Ex Classical Numismatic Group - Numismatica Ars Classica - Freeman & Sear, Triton IV, 5 December 2000, lot 557.

Antoninus, the adopted son of Hadrian, ruled through one of the most peaceful periods in Roman history and is counted as one of the ‘Five Good Emperors’ who reigned in the first and second centuries. Described as mild-mannered, traditional and considered, his cognomen - meaning ‘dutiful in affection’ - reflected his devotion to family (Birley, Marcus Aurelius, 2012): one of his first acts in office had been to compel the Senate to deify his predecessor Hadrian, which they had been reluctant to do on account of his having sentenced many of them to death during his last years.

Here Antoninus is depicted on horseback, holding a parazonium as a symbol of courage – however, he was better known as a capable administrator than an active general. He is one of the very few emperors to have never left Italy while in office, either on progress or even during revolts such as the one ongoing in Egypt when this aureus was struck (Ridley, Papers of the British School at Rome: 86, 2018). The main criticism of his reign by modern scholars is that Antoninus’ preference for peace meant he failed to build on the military successes of Hadrian, and crucial opportunities were missed to pre-emptively strike against enemies such as the Parthians, allowing them to choose their own time of battle. However, his administrative focus led to several significant legal developments, including the codification of the presumption of innocence into Roman law (Czajkowski et al., Law in the Roman Provinces, 2020, pp. 160-162).

Antoninus reigned for a total of 23 years, second only to Augustus. He also achieved that which eluded many Roman emperors, by dying peacefully of natural causes at the age of 76, surrounded by his family.