ANTONINUS PIUS

Divus Antoninus Pius Posthumous Commemorative AR Denarius of Rome. Struck A.D.161 under Marcus Aurelius. Obverse: DIVVS ANTONINVS. Bare headed and draped bust of Antoninus Pius facing right. Reverse: CONSECRATIO. Building of four storeys surmounted by Antoninus Pius in a quadriga. RIC III : 438. The reverse of this coin depicts the Ustrinum Antonini Pii, the building where the body of Antoninus Pius lay. Its remains were discovered near the Piazza Montecitorio. This monument, commonly misleadingly described as a pyre on his coinage, was the monumental building in which the body was placed. It was built prior to A.D.141 and was also used for the funerals of Faustina I, Lucius Verus and Faustina II. Antoninus Pius was ultimately buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian (now the Castel St.Angelo).