Antoninianus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Balbinus

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

238 (April-June), issued by Balbinus and Pupienus

Roman, minted in Rome

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays a bust of Emperor Balbinus facing right, with a radiate crown and wearing a cuirass and paludamentum. The back (reverse) depicts two hands clasped.

Since few citizens actually saw their sovereign, recognizable symbols such as crowns, robes, and regalia served to identify the ruler on coinage. The ray-like crown depicted on Balbinus’s head associated the emperor with the sun much like a halo indicates a holy being.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Antoninianus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Balbinus
Place: Rome (Minted in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 238 CE
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Obverse: IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG "Imperator Caesar Decimus Caelius Balbinus Augustus" Reverse: PIETAS MVTVA AVGG "Mutual Piety of the Augusti"
Dimensions: Diam.: 2.2 cm (7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1922.4894
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/5700/manifest.json

Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 29.
Theresa Gross-Diaz, “Cat. 64 Antoninianus Portraying Balbinus: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
https://publications.artic.edu/roman/reader/romanart/section/551
Theresa Gross-Diaz, “Cat. 66 Aureus Portraying Gordian III: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), para 2.

Art Institute of Chicago, Grave Goods from Ancient Cultures, Gallery 141, November 9, 1991-February 25, 1992.

Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

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Antoninianus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Balbinus

Currently Off View

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.