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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SeptimusT, post: 3622475, member: 91240&quot;]<p style="text-align: center"><b>[ATTACH=full]971245[/ATTACH] </b></p><p><b>AE As of Antoninus Pius</b></p><p><b>Obverse</b>: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III; Laureate head right</p><p><b>Reverse</b>: IMPERATOR II; sow right under tree, piglets suckling beneath.</p><p><b>Struck at Rome in AD 143/4, RIC 733</b></p><p><br /></p><p>This fascinating coin arrived recently. At the time I bought it, I had no idea of the significance of the imagery on it, I just liked the idea of having a coin with a big, fat pig on it. That got me to wondering <i>why</i> this coin had such a big, fat pig on it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer seems to be that it <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dIEYDQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT660&amp;lpg=PT660&amp;dq=rome+great+sow+coin&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=gnSEULDRRN&amp;sig=ACfU3U3Yrdn49ejWNYIFnfedRgCuLMErkA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjL3uH9tNHjAhUGVN8KHXebA0gQ6AEwGXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=rome%20great%20sow%20coin&amp;f=false" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dIEYDQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT660&amp;lpg=PT660&amp;dq=rome+great+sow+coin&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=gnSEULDRRN&amp;sig=ACfU3U3Yrdn49ejWNYIFnfedRgCuLMErkA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjL3uH9tNHjAhUGVN8KHXebA0gQ6AEwGXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=rome%20great%20sow%20coin&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow">is a commemorative issue</a>, tied with Pius&#039; well known Wolf and Twins issue (RIC 734 and others) of the same year. Other associated coins included one showing Aeneas and Ascanius, and another showing Mars and Rhea Silvia (parents of Romulus and Remus). All refer to the origin of the city of Rome, and were struck in commemoration of the 900th anniversary of its founding.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the case of the sow, it is a reference to the prophecy given by the river god Tiberinus to Aeneas (according to <a href="https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidVIII.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidVIII.php" rel="nofollow">Aeneid VIII 26-65</a>), saying that where he would find &quot;a huge sow lying on the shore, under oak trees, that has farrowed a litter of thirty young, a white sow, lying on the ground, with white piglets round her teats, that place shall be your city.&quot; This prophecy was fulfilled at the site where Aeneas would found Alba, which would set in motion events which would lead to the founding of Rome. An almost identical image (although the sow appears to be of a more domesticated type than on the coin) is found on a relief at the British Museum, dating to around the same time as the coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]971252[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Just another example of how digging deeper into our coins, no matter how humble they might be, can make them ten times more interesting. Does anyone else have any issues from this series, or other interesting commemorative (or just pig related) coins that they&#039;d like to share?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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