1. Antoninus as
Caesar sestertius, 31 mm., 27.38 g.,
Concordia seated,
cornucopia under throne, CONCORD
TRIB POT COS S C.
Antoninus was
Caesar for only 4 1/2 months in 138, from
his adoption by
Hadrian on 25 Feb. until Hadrian's death on 10 July, when Antoninus became
Augustus in Hadrian's place.
Antoninus' coinage as
Caesar was produced in two issues, the larger main issue dated
TRIB POT COS and a smaller final issue dated
TRIB POT COS DES II.
The predominant
rev. type on Antoninus'
sestertii as
Caesar was
PIETAS sacrificing, in four main variants:
Pietas sacr. l. at
altar,
legend PIETAS in
field or in
exergue;
Pietas sacr. r. at
altar,
PIETAS again either in
field or in
exergue. All four variants occur in both issues, first with
COS, then with
COS DES II.
Any OTHER
type on a
sestertius of Antoninus as
Caesar is very
rare.
Strack 898 records the present CONCORD
type in just two specimens: with draped
bust in
Paris, and with
bare head in
Berlin.
I have been a specialty collector of the coinage of Antoninus as
Caesar for about forty years, but
had only seen this CONCORD
sestertius offered once before: a specimen with draped
bust in a
Lanz sale about ten years ago, in VF condition and estimated too high for me to compete, something like $800 if I recall correctly.
So I was pleased to get this reasonably attractive specimen with
head bare at a very
cheap price, since of course the
type looks common, and since the
obverse was encrusted and needed many hours of mechanical cleaning!
The
obv. die is unusual for having the
legend continue under the
portrait, ANTONINV - S. I know the same
obv. die combined with three varieties of the
PIETAS type in the first issue (
COS).
A similar CONCORD
type had been struck earlier for
Aelius Caesar, and for Antoninus
Caesar it was struck only in
his first issue (
COS), not in
his second (
COS DES II). Apparently it was one of Antoninus' earliest
types, carried over from
Aelius but then soon discontinued.
Do not believe the absurd theory advanced by P.V.
Hill, and unfortunately embraced by David
Sear in
his new Millennium
Roman Coins and their Values,
vol. 2, p. 204, that "the issues formerly attributed to the period of Antoninus as
Caesar under
Hadrian should be reassigned to the opening months of Antoninus' reign when, during
his dispute with the Senate about the
consecration of
Hadrian, Antoninus temporarily renounced the title of
Augustus"! This theory makes an incomprehensible chaos of the clear sequence of titles and
types on the coinage and has, in my opinion, no chance whatever of being correct.
Welcome back, Frans D.; it's great that your operation went so well! As perhaps only the world's second specialty collector of Antoninus in 138-9, hopefully you can find your own CONCORD
sestertius of Antoninus
Caesar. A draped specimen would be especially nice; that's one I'm
still after myself!
Thanks to Susan Headley for producing the image of the coin on the scanner we just inherited from a friend!