Antoninus Pius, 138-161. As (Copper, 26 mm, 9.31 g, 12 h), Rome, 154-155. ANTONINVS AVG [PI]VS P P TR P XVIII Laureate head of Antoninus Pius to right. Rev. [B]RITANNIA [C]OS IIII / S C Britannia seated to left on rock, raising her right hand toward her face and leaning with her left on rock; behind, shield and vexillum. BMC 1971. Cohen 117. RIC 934. Struck on the usual crude flan and repatinated, otherwise, good very fine.

Britannia's first appearance on coins occurred during the reign of Antoninus Pius' predecessor, Hadrian, but those coins are only very rarely available. For many collectors, the first practical appearance of Britannia thus is on the coins of Antoninus Pius, such as on the example offered here, showing the personification of the province seated to the left, a type that would eventually appear again more than a millennium later, on coins of Charles II.