Marcus Aurelius, silver denarius, Rome, AD 164

Marcus Aurelius, silver denarius, Rome, AD 164 (tribunician year XVIII). 2.95g M ANTONINVS AVG ARMENIACVS; laureate head right. P M TR P XVIII IMP II COS III; Pax standing front, head left, holding olive-branch in the right hand and cornucopia in the left; a modius filled with grain ears at her feet to left. RIC III 98; BMCRE 190; RSC 509. Toned silver, light flan crack at 9 o’clock but complete legends

The issue celebrates Marcus’ first eastern victory title ARMENIACVS, granted after the Roman capture of Artaxata early in AD 163. The reverse advertises the hoped-for peace that would follow success in Armenia and the opening stages of the Parthian War, while the modius of grain links military triumph to the prosperity that Rome expected her new emperor to secure.