It was common practice in ancient Rome for the emperor to distribute the wealth of the empire back to deserving citizens on special occasions. This engendered trust and solidified the emperor’s popularity, and history makes specific mention of nearly every instance of this imperial generosity. This coin commemorates Antoninus Pius’ fourth “congiarium”, donations given to citizens. Emperors also regularly donated to soldiers, referred to as “donativa” to distinguish it from that given to the general populace. The reverse of this coin depicts Liberalitas, the personification of generosity. She was named from the Latin word “liber”, meaning free, and represents the munificence of Antoninus Pius through his giving of coins to the Roman citizen standing near the platform, eagerly accepting the gifts. The coins are being distributed in a cornucopia, a common symbol for prosperity. It is believed that this particular distribution was in celebration of the marriage of Marcus Aurelius to Faustina Junior in the spring of 145 AD. While Antoninus Pius is generally remembered as frugal, each citizen was given ninety denarii (or three aurei and 15 denarii), and a special additional donative was given to the soldiers. Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161). AV aureus (19mm, 6.57 gm, 6h). Rome, AD 145. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS IIII, laureate bust of Antoninus right, drapery on far shoulder / Antoninus, togate, seated to left on curule chair set upon raised platform, extending right hand and holding scroll in left; before him Liberalitas stands left, holding cornucopia; on ground before platform, citizen standing right, holding out a fold of his toga to receive coins, LIB IIII in exergue. RIC 141 variant (bust type). BMCRE 546. Calicó 1572 (R1). Rare. Post your Pius or Donative Coins!
I particularly like this reverse type, but on this coin both sides are wonderful! Here's one issued by Marcus Aurelius, with Commodus sharing the platform, dating to the donatives held during Commodus's first year as Imperator and Augustus.
AV Aureus, eh? => wow, another absolute gem, AJ ...sadly, I don't have an AV anything to add, but I will follow Z-Bro's lead and post my humble AE version of Commodus, Liberalitas and the gang ... ... AJ, you've managed to wow the crowd once again (congrats on a great addition)
I find two points of interest in this wonderful coin beyond those mentioned. Most platform scenes show the figure of Liberalitas holding an abacus as on the Aurelius and Commodus coins above. Pius has some from other donatives with her but not here. Also the platform for Pius is smaller than other emperors. It does not have stairs to be climbed by the recipient as usually seen. Trajan had stairs; Aurelius and Commodus had stairs; Pius no. We see these coins in sestertii and aurei but denarii have just the standing figure of Liberalitas. I suspect this indicates the difficulty of putting so much detail on a smaller coin. My Trajan is straight from a junk box but shows the stairs. The Commodus is an as from his elevation to Caesar. Both have three figures on the top of the platform (but not the same ones) and a citizen on stairs. There seem to be a lot of Trajan platforms available but not all are Liberalitas types.
AJ, I Love that magnificent Antoninus Aureus----I have none of that type at all... And I love the donative AE's posted by 'Z', Steve and Doug........ I just have a couple of examples of common Sestertii and a denarius, none relating to donatives that I can make out..
There is a rare Commodus denarius showing the full scene, including the stairs. It's one that I would like to have one day. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=251061
Wow! That is a stunning coin AJ! I guess Gibbon was right when he said this was the happiest time to live in! I have just one Antoninius Pius Denarius( need to eventually upgrade it ) Pics were taken ages ago, so sorry about the quality
A stunning coin. I don't have any with that type of reverse & I only have this Liberalitas. Geta (209 - 211 A.D.) AR Denarius O: P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG BRIT ,laureate head right . R: LIBERALITAS AVG V , Liberalitas standing left with counting board and cornucopiae . Rome Mint, 211 A.D. 3.7g 18mm RIC 88, RSC 68 The reverse ends legend with "AUG V". The 'V' stands for the number of times donatives had been given at the time of the minting. "Liberalitas" signifies generosity.
Here is a Commodus sestertius: 33 mm. Not in Sear but close to Sear 5765 BMC 453 RIC 310 Struck Jan - Dec 9, 181. This one has the citizen climbing the ladder.
very nice indeed, Hadrian Denarius Roma 119-22 AD Hadrian Reference. RIC II 129, RSC II 908, BMCRE III 291 Obv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG. Laureate head right. Rev: P M TR P COS III / LIBERAL AVG/ [III]? in exergue Hadrian seated left on platform, making distribution to citizen standing right. 3.56 gr 18 mm
Hadrian Denarius 119-22 AD Hadrian with officier and LibertasReference. Scarce RIC 131b; C 911 Obv. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG. Laureate bust right, drapery on far shoulder, and over back of neck (rarely seen) Rev. P M TR P COS III / LIBERAL AVG (III In Ex.) Emperor seated left on sella curulis on platform; behind, officer; before, Liberalitas with tessera; in front on steps, citizen. 2.75 gr 18 mm extra. A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive tessella) is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a cube
