What are the most interesting coins of Antoninus Pius?

Beats me.
I compared it to this portrait and I cannot be sure.

 

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I think it is Marcus and also a provincial. The letters SC are nowhere to be seen and they usually last long.


There is a small series which is not put together in RIC or BMC which relate to Roman mythology. The white sow of Lavinium being one, Mars descending on Rhea Silvia, Jupiter Latio and perhaps Romulus and his brother. They all have bearing on the founding of Rome

 

He's got the whole world in his hands:


Antoninus Pius Aureus - Standing with Globe

Gold, 19.5 mm, 7.26 gm
Obverse: Laureate head right - ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P IMP II
Reverse: Antoninus standing left wearing toga and holding globe in right hand - TR POT XIX COS IIII
Catalog: RIC 256a (Roman Imperial Coins)
Struck: AD 155-156, Rome

 

After five days' absence, I thought I'd see if I could come back on with an unobtrusive tack-on post like this one, before starting any new threads, just to see if perhaps a certain harasser has lost interest while I was gone and is no longer stalking me.

Earlier in this thread, @Roman Collector posted a sestertius of Antoninus Pius as proud grandfather, probably celebrating the birth of Fadilla to Faustina II:

Here is what I assume is the dupondius version of the same theme:

Antoninus Pius Æ Dupondius, Rome, ca. 159- 160 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate head right, ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIII / Rev. Pietas [representing Faustina II] standing left, holding globe in extended right hand and infant in left arm, two children standing at her feet, one on each side, each raising one arm [probably representing the Emperor’s three granddaughters then living, namely Marcus Aurelius’s and Faustina II’s daughters Annia Faustina (a/k/a Faustina III), Lucilla, and Fadilla; issued before birth of Cornificia in Aug. 160], PIET-ATI - AVG COS IIII, S-C across fields. RIC III 1035, Sear RCV II 4280 (ill.), Cohen 625. 25.5 mm., 15.57 g. [Ex. Naville Numismatics, Auction 28, Jan. 22, 2017, Lot 611, previously in Italian collection (with old ticket in Italian in name of “Antonino Pio”).]



See also the recent Mother's Day thread for my two denarii and one sestertius of Faustina II, showing respectively the four daughters including Cornificia, the two sons (the infant Caracalla and his twin), and all six of them together.

 

That's lovely, @DonnaML!

 

My only coin of Antoninus Pius features an interesting reverse (especially for an Italian):




ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
Laureate head right

ITALIA
Italia, towered, seated l. on globe, holding cornucopiae and sceptre.

3.12g
Rome 140-143
RIC 73c. BMC 214

Ex-Pella Coins and Antiquities

 

Thanks. I don't have any other Imperial coins from that late in A. Pius's life. I wonder if he was intentionally made to look elderly, or if it's just the wear on my particular coin that makes him appear that way.

 

Here is an interesting piece. It has Faustina the Elder on the front and her and her husband, Antoninus Pius, holding hands on the reverse. According to historians, the two had a happy marriage. Faustina died in 141 A.D. Pius honored her memory by asking the Senate to diefy her and built a temple dedicated to her in the Roman Forum. He also struck coins like these with the inscription "DIVA AVG FAUSTINA". I'm a hopeless romantic so their story really appeals to me.

 

This was one of my first ever Denarius....
Luckily/interestingly the coin commemorates Pius' fourth largesse distributed to celebrate the marriage of his daughter Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius Caesar in spring 145 AD.......

Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) AR denarius, struck AD 145-161. Rome mint.
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP,(Antoninus Augustus Pius Father of the people) laureate head right
TR POT COS IIII,(Tribune of the people 4 times Consul) Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and cornucopiae, LIB IIII across the fields..RIC 155 type 1

 

Very nice coin. Furthermore I am glad you posted it because you provided information on the occasion of the distribution (marriage of Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius). I did not know that! Very interesting!

I have a similar one, but RIC 156 where Liberalitas is holding a vexillium rather than the coin counter (often described as an abacus), and LIB IIII is in the exergue.

Is mine struck for the same occasion but issued to the troops? This could be a case where separate types were used for the congiarium (money given to the people) and for the donativm (Wikipedia spells it donativum which looks wrong) (money given to the troops).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congiarium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donativum



Antoninus Pius Denarius
(145-147 A.D.)
Rome Mint
ANTONINVS AVG [PIVS PP] laureate head right / TR PO-T [COS II]II around, LIB IIII in exergue, Liberalitas standing facing, head left, holding vexillum and cornucopiae.
RIC 156; BMC 574; RSC 490.
(3.30 grams / 16 mm)

For more on the counting board/abacus on coins:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ha...ny-coins-back-in-the-day.366035/#post-4830773