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This rare ancient coin was struck in Tarsus, the capital city of the eastern Roman province of Cilicia. Tarsus originally fell under Rome's suzerainty around 69 BC following Pompey the Great’s campaign against Cilician pirates marauding the region. By the time of the Antonine Emperors, the metropolis was one of Asia Minor's most important hubs for the production and trade of agricultural goods, as well as important materials from copper to coal. Tarsus was also an important provincial mint whose coins provide interesting and important insights into the history of the ancient Roman Empire. For example, the current coin is probably the only regular issue representing Annius Verus (162? – 169? AD), son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Empress Faustina Jr.
The obverse depicts the confronted busts of two young males, each bareheaded and draped, with a caduceus and a club crossed between them. The obverse inscription, KOPOI CEBACTOV, indicates that the two figures are sons of the Roman Augustus, namely Marcus Aurelius. While not certain, the figures are widely viewed to represent Commodus and Annius Verus, although the obverse inscription does not provide any further insight. Interestingly, a medallion contemporaneously struck in Rome depicts similarly confronted portraits of the two imperial brothers, wherein the attribution is confirmed from the accompanying inscription. With regards to the current coin, physiognomy and other evidence suggest that the figure on the left is Caesar Commodus and the figure on the right is Caesar Annius Verus. The coin's reverse features an impressive temple held up by no fewer than ten pillars, with the inscription KOINOC KIΛIKI in the pediment, as if to invite the public to enter and worship at the temple of the Koinon of Cilicia. Completing the scene are the letters TAR and KOY to the left and right of the temple, and the letters MHTΡOΠ below, indicating the coin’s origin as the mother city of Tarsus.
By the time this coin was struck (late 160s AD), Faustina Jr. had borne at least a dozen imperial children. However, due to the high rate of child mortality at the time, only two boys survived, namely Commodus and Annius Verus. For an Empire struggling against plague and barbarian invasions, the two boys represented Rome’s future. As it turned out, only one of the two boys, namely Commodus, survived to adulthood and succeeded father Marcus Aurelius as Emperor. For the first time in a century, ascension was based solely on direct bloodline, rather than merit, and the result proved disastrous. In the absence of any potential counterbalance provided by co-Caesar Annius Verus, who conceivably would have ascended to co-Emperor, Commodus’ increasing megalomania firmly plunged Rome into a crisis that lasted a century.
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Commodus and Annius Verus, Caesars, AD 166-169/70 and AD 166-177, Cilicia, Tarsus mint, AE (18mm, 3.72 g, 6h), NGC Grade: Ch XF, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 3/5, Obverse: Confronted busts of Commodus left and Annius right, each bareheaded and draped; between, crossed caduceus and club, KOPOI CEBACTOV, Reverse: Decastyle temple with eagle and KOINOC KIΛIKI in pediment, TAP and KOY to the left and right, respectively, and MHTΡOΠ below, References: SNG France 1455; SNG Levante 1018.