ROMAN EMPIRE - NOVEL Antoninus the Pious (138-161). Aureus ND (145), Rome. Av. ANTONINVS AVG PI - VS P P TR P COS IIII. Laureate bust right. Rv. LIB IIII. On a platform, Antoninus seated left on a curule chair. On his right, Liberality standing on the left emptying her cornucopia into the hands of a man standing at the foot of the dais. Calicó 1568 - RIC.140c - Hill p.195, 664 ; Gold - 7,3 g - 19 mm - 6 h From a sale Numismatic Fine Arts XXI, 1 June 1989, n° 62 then CNG 16, 16 August 1991, n° 472 then Calicó - The Roman Aurei, 1 January 2003, n° 1568. NGC: coming soon. Freshly minted, the original lustre is barely golden in the fields. The flan is slightly irregular with the strike just off-centre. The bust is in high relief and very detailed, as is the scene of largesse on the reverse. Almost Fleur de coin. This aureus commemorates Antoninus' fourth largesse, with the distribution of 145 on the occasion of his fourth consulship, shared with Marcus Aurelius, and the latter's imperial marriage to Faustina the Younger. This largesse consisted of the distribution of food (congiaria) to the civilian population of Rome.