Reproduction Aureus of Antoninus Pius - Funeral Pyre

Obverse: Bare head of Antoninus Pius right. Text around DIVVS ANTONINVS.

Reverse: Four tiered funeral pyre decorated with garlands and statues, door in second tier, facing quadriga (four-horse chariot) on top. Text around CONSECRATIO.

History: In March 161 AD, the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius died at the age of 74. His death marked a turning point in Roman imperial history, since, for the first time, a deceased emperor was succeeded by a set of official co-regents, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

The co-rulers issued coinage bearing the obverse legend DIVVS ANTONINVS, or the divine Antoninus, to commemorate their father’s passing and subsequent deification. On the reverse is the image of the funerary pyre on which the emperor was cremated. The legend CONSECRATIO likely referrs to the funereal process of deification itself.

Date: Rome mint, c.161 AD

Diameter: 1.8cm