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A brass sestertius of the emperor Antoninus Pius with a reverse showing Felicitas holding a capricorn. Coin Type: Brass sestertius of Antoninus Pius, Caesar 138 CE, Augustus 138-161 CE
Mint and Date: Rome, 145-161 CE.
Size and Weight: 31mm, 25.36g
Obverse: ANTONINVS AVG PI-VS P P TR P COS IIII
Laureate head right.
Reverse: FELICI-TA-S AVG S C
Felicitas standing facing, head left, holding a tall winged caduceus in her left hand, and a small capricorn at shoulder height in her right.
Provenance: Roma Numismatics (Vcoins), June 2008
Ref: RCV (2002) 4174; RIC III 770.
BW Ref: 026 041 140
Click on the picture for a larger scale view of the coin

Note: The unusual inclusion of a small capricorn in this Felicitas type, making a combination seen on Roman coins only in this issue and its associated dupondius and aureus, may represent a harking back to the happy times of Augustus, whose birth sign this was.

The content of this page was last updated on 1 July 2009