Antoninvs Sestercius

[moneta romana]

Hye Romans!!!!!
I send you my last coin,this is an Antoninus sestercius with Honos reverse
Dimensions : 31mm/29,65grms ....very heavy !!!!!
if you have any informations about this variety i will be very happy ! I think that he is not very commun!


[IMG]

I Wish you excellent and merry christmas

 

[slokind]

Oh, magnificent.  I only have Honos in the denarius for Marcus Aurelius as Caesar:
• Marcus Aurelius, Caesar.  COS II  RIC Ant Pius for MAur no. 429a.  BMCRE cf. nos. 594-602: this is one with CAE    SAR and with the branch separating CO and S. 
There must have been a shrine to Honos in Rome with a statue that was the model for this coin type, but I don't know what his attributes mean, the branch and the cornucopiae.  I just wanted him for his masculine-gender name (like Virtus for her feminine-gender name).
And they're pretty coins, too!  Pat L.
P.S.  I think your sestertius must be RIC p. 124, no. 772, where it is labeled 'S'.

[moonmoth]

I think there are several possible ways these figures can hold a branch with meaning.  Of course, in some cases the way it is held is not important; just having it at all is the message.

A branch can be brandished, offered, gestured with, swept with or trailed behind. It looks as though Honos is offering his branch.  It is bushy and might be Pax's olive.  So you could read this type as Honour bringing abundance (the cornucopia) and offering peace.

It's easy to read too much into these coins (for me, anyway!) but Imperial coins often do use a language of symbolism based on the attributes of the various gods and personifications.

[slokind]

I think that Honos is a guarantee of right government, especially in a new emperor, most especially in a young heir.  The exact connotations of honos, honoris, m. in Latin vernacular would want some extensive careful reading, which I haven't done, but it certainly involved honor and candid honesty.  So the branch may be generic, and I suppose the horn of plenty, as when Concordia holds it, simply points to the results of good rule.  I doubt that it needs to be more exact.
Pat L.

[moonmoth]

So the good and honest successor will bring peace and prosperity - that sounds right for state propaganda, for someone with a hard act to follow.