Column of Antoninus Pius

227, Lot: 483. Estimate $100. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Divus Antoninus Pius. Died AD 161. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.18 g, 5h). Consecration issue. Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, circa AD 161. Bare-headed bust right, slight drapery on shoulders / Column of Antoninus Pius: column on low base surmounted by statue of Divus Antoninus, holding scepter. RIC III 440 (Aurelius); RSC 353. Good VF.

The reverse depicts the column of the divine Antoninus Pius, the shaft and base of which survive. The latter, now in the Vatican, employs both Classical and traditionally plebeian styles and marks an artistic transition in imperially sponsored monuments.