AncientCoinArt.com Presents

RIC 957 of

Antoninus Pius AE As. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P IMP II, laureate head right / TR POT XIX COS IIII S-C, Providentia standing left, pointing at large globe at foot & holding long scepter.

Lot No.1974. VF with a RIC rating of Scarce. 10.2g.

$ 125.

Antoninus Pius (ruled 138-161 AD), born Titvs Avrelivs Fvlvvs Boionivs Arrivs Antoninvs in 86 AD to Arria Fadilla and Titus Aurelius Fulvus. He served as a praetor, quaestor, and consul (120) before becoming proconsul of Asia in 135. He married Faustina Sr. about 115. He was on the Imperial Council in 138 when Hadrian's heir Aelius Caesar died, and was adopted by Hadrian on February 25, 138, becoming Augustus when Hadrian died on July 10, 138. He is known for wisdom, temperance, and a serious nature, and prosperity and peace were the hallmarks of his reign. He was one of the most revered of emperors, as evidenced by the several subsequent rulers who used "ANTONINVS" in their official names, and when he died peacefully on March 7, 161, the Senate deified him.