Providentia is the personification of foresight and is most often depicted under the form of a female, clothed in a matron’s gown, holding in her left hand a cornucopiae or the hasta pura, and in her right a short wand, with which she either touches or points to a globe. Sometimes she holds this globe in her right hand, at others it lies at her feet. This reverse type is intended to mark the power and foresight of the emperor -- i.e. that he is aware of the needs of the empire and its population and is taking the proper measures to meet them, such as ensuring the grain supply or peaceful succession on account the birth of imperial children. Faustina Senior, AD 138-141 Roman orichalcum dupondius, 12.07 g, 26.6 mm, 12 h Rome, AD 141 Obv: DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, veiled and draped bust, right Rev: AETERNITAS S C, Providentia standing left, holding globe and hasta pura Refs: RIC 1163ab; BMCRE 1459; RCV 4635. Gallienus, AD 253-268 Roman billon antoninianus, 3.45 g, 19.3 mm, 5 h Mediolanum, AD 260-268 Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust, right Rev: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left and leaning on column, holding short wand and cornucopiae; globe at her feet Refs: Göbl 1086aa; Toffanin 146/1 Postumus, AD 260-269 Roman AR Antoninianus; 2.39 g, 19.4 mm, 12 h Cologne, AD 265-268 Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right Rev: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left, holding globe and hasta pura Refs: RIC 80; Cohen 295; DeWitte 247; RCV 10977; Hunter 75. Post your PROVIDENTIA coins!
I hadn't come across the term "hasta pura" before, so thanks Here she is with that device, pointing to the globe at her feet. Postumus CE 260-269 antoninianus, 20 x 22 mm, 3.0 gm struck CE 263 Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Rev: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left, leaning on a column, holding a scepter in her right hand and a cornucopiae in her left; at her feet to left, globe Ref: RIC VII 81, Cologne [supposedly; I certainly don't know this for a fact]; AGK (corr.) 70. Cunetio -. Elmer 334. Gilljam -
Well, the coin IS RIC 81: RIC attributes it to Lugdunum. Sear (#10980) attributes it to Cologne. Who's right? I'd go with Sear, as it is based on updated information.
Here is a coin with PROVIDENTIA but no Providentia: Septimus Severus 207-208 AD 3.05g denarius 18mm. Rome. Obv: SEVERVS – PIVS AVG; Laureate head right Rev: PROVIDENTIA; Small head of Medusa facing, on aegis. Ref: RIC IV 286; BMCRE 357; RSC 591 ex-CNG, e-auction 186, April 2008, lot 195 Why an aegis instead of Providentia? The theory is that it refers to the foresight of the two Augusti, Septimius and Caracalla, in their preparation to invade Britain in the following year, 208.
That's a cool coin and an insightful interpretation of the meaning of the reverse type. It's certainly a better explanation than is to be found in Stevenson, Seth William, et al. A Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial. G. Bell and Sons, 1889, p. 660:
Cool write up and good explanations of the terms @Roman Collector . As I am reading, I usually try to look everything up for clarifications, but your LINKS are always very helpful. RI Lucius Verus 161-169 CE AR Denarius Providentia globe cornucopiae RIC 253 RI Tacitus 275-276 CE AE Ant Providentia RI Constantine I CE 306-337 Æ Follis 19mm 3.2g Siscia CE 326-7 AVG Laureate R - PROVIDENTIAE AVGG Camp gate 2 turrets no door star RIC 200
Here's a PROVIDENTIAE I bought recently but quite confused by the RIC. Its not the same. Constantius II, 22 May 337 - 3 November 361 A.D. Billon centenionalis, RIC VII Rome 290, LRBC I 519, SRCV V 17632, Hunter V 17 var. (4th officina). Rome mint, weight 3.04g, 19.7mm, as caesar, 326 A.D.; obverse FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust left; reverse PROVIDENTIAE CAESS (to the foresight of the two princes), campgate with two turrets, star above, • in archway, R wreath T in exergue. RIC VII Rome 290 isn't right. I like the desert patina and wanted a camp gate since I don't own one. (The reverse is what's incorrect)
The reverse is what confuses me. The obverse is correct but the mintmark isn't the same including the dot in the archway.
Apart from the dot in the archway, the mint mark is spot on. The star above the campgate is included in the reverse description of "as 264."
The following coin was struck in Serdica under Diocletian. Reverse has Providentia standing facing right towards Quies standing facing left and holding a branch and scepter. The coin seems to be formerly silvered . RIC VI - 15a , B.
Nice catch RC Hadrian Sestertius, Roma 134-38 AD Providentia standing Reference. var. RIC 772; C 1205; Strack 682 (var= no wand and resting on column) Obv. HADRIANVS - AVG COS III P P laureate head right. Rev. PROVIDENTIA AVG / SC Providentia, draped, standing left, holding hand over globe and vertical sceptre in left 23.43 gr 32 mm
Learned a bit, here. Hasta pura and all that. Thanks. For the second time this weekend, I've had a look through the archived pictures of my first Roman collection from 2007-08, to see if I could match a certain reverse theme. You see, when I built that collection, I paid very little attention to reverse designs. It was all about the portrait first, name second, and if a coin had an interesting reverse, great, but if it didn't, that mattered little to me. I was mostly just checking imperial names off a list, though of course I was learning a lot. So I wasn't sure if I had a PROVIDENTIA or not. Scrolling down, I had pretty much concluded that no, there weren't any in my old collection, but lo and behold, then I saw this Tacitus: Kind of interesting how I've recently been spurred to look back at coins I sold a decade ago, and examine things about them that I was paying little attention to when I bought them.
You're right Roman Collector. I had to look it up on the Roman Coin Attribution Kit (MS Excel) on FAC. There's two of them and the one I have is the R wreath T. I was looking at Wildwinds.com and they only showed the R wreath Q mintmark. I have start looking past wildwinds for further incite. Thank you.
