Denarius of Antoninus Pius

The silver denarius of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus lived 86-161, reigned l138-161) was minted in 139-141 for the emperor’s wife, Faustina I (Annia Galeria Faustina), called “the Elder” to distinguish her from their daughter, also Faustina “the Younger” (122-175), who was the youngest child of the imperial couple. Both sides of the coin, obverse and reverse, are worn but mostly legible. On the obverse there is a bust of Empress Faustina, facing right. The figure is wearing a draped dress, with a veil over her braided hair. Around the bust, there is the inscription DIVA FAUSTINA. On the reverse, there is an upright figure of Fortune, the goddess of destiny, with her head turned to the right. In her raised right hand, the goddess holds the globe. Her left arm rests on a rudder of a ship next to her, the symbol of human fate. The rim of the reverse shows an inscription AETERNITAS. The circumstances of the coin’s discovery are not known. It is only known that it was found in 1848 during ploughing in a parish field in Czarnów.

Bartłomiej Rogalski