Harmony in Marriage
784. Marcus Aurelius, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Struck under Antoninus Pius, Rome, AD 148-149. AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG P II F, bare head right / CONCORDIA TR POT III COS II, Concordia standing facing, head left, sheltering with her mantle small draped figures of Marcus Aurelius (on the left) and Faustina Junior; both figures of Aurelius and Faustina are standing facing, their heads turned toward Concordia. RIC III 441 (Pius) var. (COS II in exergue); Strack 205 (Pius) var. (same); Calicó 1820a; Biaggi –; BMCRE 680 (Pius) var. (same). 6.59g, 19mm, 5h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare, only three examples on CoinArchives.
12,500
Ex CNG Triton XVII Sessions 1 & 2, 7 January 2014, lot 714. Beautifully rendered on the reverse of this stunning aureus is a charming scene representing the harmony (concordia) that prevailed between Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior, who had been married in AD 145. Struck under Antoninus Pius, the depiction of Concordia gathering and sheltering Aurelius and Faustina near her, a representation of harmony in marriage and hope for a life of happiness, belies nothing of the forethought and planning that was undertaken to arrange the match. Instituted by Hadrian during his final two years of life with his adoption of Pius and the subsequent direction for Pius to adopt Aurelius, the wedding commemorated on this coin was, as seen under Roman law, of a brother marrying his sister and Pius would have had to formally release either the bride or groom from his paternal authority in order for the ceremony to go ahead. Inauspicious as the legal challenges may have been at the start of their union, Aurelius and Faustina were married for thirty years and Faustina bore thirteen children over this period, heralding a time of stability in the imperial family. As Carlos Noreña posits, “With the decline of independent senatorial authority and concurrent ascent to power of those individuals who had privileged access to the emperor, especially emperors’ wives, concordia within the imperial family, above all between emperor and empress, became paramount.” (Imperial Ideals in the Roman West: Representation, Circulation, Power, CUP 2011). Following the carefully orchestrated succession organised by Hadrian, propaganda such as this reverse type, which emphasised the harmony and benefits brought to the empire by the Antonine dynasty, were plentiful and became a lasting feature of imperial coinage.
Apparently Unpublished Variant
785. Marcus Aurelius, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 148-149. AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F, bare-headed and draped bust right / TR POT III COS II, Clementia standing left, holding patera and holding out skirt with left hand; CLEM in exergue. RIC -, cf. 448a (different bust type); Calicó -. 6.38g, 19mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Apparently unpublished variant.
223
3,000