My most recent arrival is this Faustina denarius with Vesta. Don’t know why I can’t get a decent pic of the reverse. Faustina junior, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius Denarius circa 161-176, AR 19mm., 3.50g. Draped bust r., hair waved and coiled on back of head. Rev. Vesta seated l., holding palladium and sceptre. C 286. RIC M. Aurelius 737. Sear 5270 Toned, Extremely Fine. Ex Naville In the research I’ve been finding few of these in CNG, ACsearch, Vcoins and all the usual places. Only around 18-20 that I can find. Vesta reverse is much more common with Faustina Sr. Love to see any examples or hear theories on rarity. Thanks Jim
Faustina Jr. has VESTA on asses, too: 26 mm. 13.02 grams. VESTA around Vesta holding simpulum and Palladium. Sear II 5307. BMC 1004. RIC 1690. Struck 161-176 according to BMC.
That's a lovely example and certainly more attractive than mine, which was struck with a worn reverse die. Faustina II, AD 147-175, under Marcus Aurelius. Roman AR denarius, 3.21 g, 17.4 mm, 7h. Rome, AD 161-175. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VESTA, Vesta, veiled and draped, seated left, holding palladium in extended right hand and transverse sceptre in left hand. Refs: RIC 737; BMCRE 175-76; Cohen/RSC 286; RCV 5270; CRE 242. Temeryazev and Makarenko* consider the coin to be "scarce," consistent with your experience at seeking other examples online. The British Museum has two copies of it in their collection, no. 175: ... and 176: *Temeryazev, S. A., and T. P. Makarenko. The Coinage of Roman Empresses. CreateSpace, an Amazon.com Company, 2017.
Sort of. This one, with the AVGVSTA reverse legend and Vesta enthroned left, holding patera and scepter is quite common. Faustina I, AD 138-141. Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 18 mm. Rome, AD 147-161. Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: AVGVSTA, Vesta veiled, seated left, holding patera and scepter. Refs: RIC 371; BMCRE 444-46; Cohen/RSC 119; RCV 4588; CRE 151. However, the type as seen on the Faustina II example (as we have each posted) with the VESTA legend is rare. It comes in two varieties: a lifetime issue with the obverse legend FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG (RIC 334c) and posthumous issue with the legend FAVSTINA AVGVSTA (RIC 342a). The former is EXTREMELY rare, and the latter is rare, with only one example at acsearchinfo:
A couple of hurry-up photos on the theme of this thread. Actually, if you follow BMC neither of these two is posthumous. The first is BMCRE 37 from the first issue under Antoninus Pius in 138. That is the first coin I show below. The second is not given a full listing by Mattingly who footnotes that it corresponds to Strack no. 408. It appears between 145 and 146 in BMCRE just below a hybrid item. It corresponds in series to the issues of 138-140, before her death. In the example from cgb, the palladium looks a little strange. Here is a RIC 334c I picked up last December, for under $50: And here is another Faustina II like the OP coin:
I’d like to get a crisp focus even though the coin isn’t crisply struck or the die was deteriorating.
If the coin lacks a sharp line on which the autofocus can lock, it may be necessary to use manual focus (if you camera offers it.
It may not just be about focus. If you have variable aperture, take the shot at f11 or at least f8. At close focus the relief on a Roman coin can be deep enough to split the focal plane, with a loss of sharpness in either the foreground or background. Stop down and beef up the light a bit and you will get more of the sharpness you want. Here is the reverse of the Vesta coin I posted above, shot at f8:
