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Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. AV Aureus (18mm, 6.80 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, AD 163. Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Salus, draped, standing left, holding scepter in left hand, and feeding out of patera in right hand a snaked coiled around and rising from altar to left. RIC III 77; MIR 18, 54-2/17; Calicó 1915. Lightly toned, underlying luster. Good VF.
From the G. Savonarola Collection. Ex Triton XIX (5 January 2016), lot 567.
To the Romans, Salus was the personification of health and the equivalent of the Greek goddess, Hygieia, daughter of the Greek god of healing, Aesculapius. Consequently, her presence on Roman imperial coinage may be taken as the possible indication of the recovery of the ruler from some bout of illness or indisposition. From youth, Marcus Aurelius was troubled by poor health, as indicated by the number of times Salus is invoked on his coinage. The rediscovery of his youthful letters to his tutor Fronto, which are filled with complaints of chills, fevers, chest colds, and gastric troubles, has led some historians to subtitle the Antonine era an “age of hypochondria.” However, these health concerns took a deadly turn in AD 163, when the Roman armies returning from an eastern campaign brought with them a deadly plague, perhaps smallpox, that swept the classical world and carried off perhaps a third of its population. The appearance of Salus on this aureus of Marcus Aurelius is thus likely a divine appeal to protect the emperor and his dynasty from this rapidly spreading contagion.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 13 May at 2 PM ET.
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