Faustina I As - 4th Phase: Birth of Annia Faustina to Faustina II

A while back, thanks to Coin Talk posts (and especially Roman Collector), it came to my attention that extensive work had been done attributing the coins of Faustina I to various posthumous "phases," five to be exact. Martin Beckmann is the scholar behind a lot (or all?) of this. Since then, I have been trying to put my little collection in this order.

Here is an article that gives a detailed overview of these "phases" and the reasons why things have been arranged so. I am not sure of the copyright status of this, and I hope I am not treading on any toes by linking this:

http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Antoninus/07 - Diva Faustina I - Undated 140-161 (med_res).pdf

Here is a recent Roman Collector CT post addressing this:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/with-a-veil-and-a-stephane.361590/#post-4564869

Most of the "phases" are represented by a multitude of types and legends. But of all the "phases" one of them, Phase 4, has but one type - Ceres holding two torches. The theory is this celebrates the birth of Annia Faustina to Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius. So in a way, this could be considered a Faustina II issue as well.

Wikipedia gives a brief account of Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina's life, although the main article gives a 151 A.D. birthdate whereas the Faustina II article says 147 A.D. (which agrees with Beckmann):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annia_Galeria_Aurelia_Faustina

Recently I got one of these Phase 4 issues, an as with an unfortunate green pit, so now I have all five phases represented. These came only in gold and AE, not silver, apparently. If I've botched this attribution, please let me know!



Faustina I Æ As
4th Phase: Birth of Annia Faustina to Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius
(c. 147 A.D.) Rome Mint
[DI]VA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / AVGVSTA S C, Ceres standing left with short,
flaming torches in both hands.
RIC 1174 (as).
(10.56 grams / 24 mm)

Share your Phase 4s or whatever Faustina I's or II's you want.

 

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Really informative post! Faustina Senior has quickly become one of my favorite Romans from a numismatic perspective. I’ll share a recent Faustina coin that I lost at the last second but despite that, it’s beauty deserves to be seen!

 

The author of the book you cite is a member of CT, @paulus_dinius . His book is extremely helpful and important for Antonine collectors.

 

What is the name of his book?

 

My only Diva Faustina I, mentioned in the Paul Dinsdale book/article as undated.

Diva Faustina I [Senior] (wife of Antoninus Pius), AR Denarius. Obv: Draped bust right, DIVA FAVSTINA / Rev: Ceres, veiled, standing left, holding torch in left hand and holding right hand up in greeting, CONSECRATIO. RIC III 382b corr.*, RSC II 165a, Sear RCV II 4593, Dinsdale 020610 [Dinsdale, Paul H. Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage (p. 249; photo at p. 254) (2018)]. 17 mm., 3.3 g.

* RIC III 382b erroneously describes Faustina’s bust on obverse as veiled. (RIC III 382a has different obverse legend [DIVA AVG FAVSTINA]).

 

Marsyas Mike,

Could you tell us the author's name, title of article, and name of periodical for the long listing of Faustina's coinage in your first link above?

 

If you look at the pagination, it appears to be a chapter of a book, rather than an article. But I would like to know the author's name and the title as well. At first I thought it was a chapter from Beckmann's book, but it isn't.

 

@curtislclay, from looking at some of the articles on his website, it seems that his name is Paul Dinsdale. See http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/minorstudies/menu.html . Googling that name shows the following information about his (apparently unpublished) book: Dinsdale, Paul H. Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage. Leeds, Paul H Dinsdale, 2018. I have revised my citation to his book (see above) accordingly.

 

Thanks, Donna. I think this book has been cited before on CoinTalk. I would be very interested to have a look at a printed copy!

 

Thanks to Donna for figuring that out - the original link came from a Coin Talk post and this was all I had - as Donna notes, a chapter from a book with no apparent author. Beckmann seems to be the main source for the information...

So a shout out to Paul Dinsdale for such a fine, detailed work.

 

Thank you, Donna for figuring this out. I do like to give credit where credit is due.

That's a nice denarius you have. I think that would be - based on the article in question (p. 216 and top of page 233):

5th Phase – Anniversary of Faustina’s Deification
Commenced: 150

CONSECRATIO * Ceres raising hand & holding torch Ar

 

Thanks. But the asterisk refers to a footnote stating that the reference is to the variety with the obverse legend DIVA AVG FAVSTINA (RIC III 382a), rather than my DIVA FAUSTINA (RIC III 382b). The author does cite my variety (see my description), but doesn't assign it to a particular date-range.

 

Hmm. I am confused, but I haven't read the whole book/article. And I think the footnotes are confusing me.

But to just go off Dinsdale's headings, which assign dates based on inscriptions/reverse types, everything seems to be covered. Wouldn't yours fall under this heading:

"5th Phase – Anniversary of Faustina’s Deification
Commenced: 150
Obverse: DIVA FAVSTINA (* with DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, or † with DIVAE FAVSTINAE)"

CONSECRATIO * Ceres raising hand & holding torch Ar

No other CONSECRATIO types in other "phases" are matched with a Ceres "torch/raising hand." The obverse inscription (AVG or no AVG) does not matter one way or another as far as assigning "phases."

Here is RIC 382b, like yours but not nearly as pretty:


Faustina I Denarius
5th Phase: Anniversary of Faustina’s Deification
(c. 150-160 A.D.)
Rome Mint
DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / CONSECRATIO Ceres standing left, holding torch and raising right hand.
RIC 382b; RSC 165a.
(2.60 grams / 17 mm)

But like I say, I am easily confused...RC, the Bat Signal has been lit!

 

I interpreted the asterisk in "CONSECRATIO * Ceres raising hand & holding torch Ar" to mean that the author was referring only to the DIVA AVG FAVSTINA obverse, and not the DIVA FAVSTINA obverse, because of the explanatory note above stating "DIVA FAVSTINA (* with DIVA AVG FAVSTINA . . . )." Thinking about it again, however, I now realize that given the word "with," the asterisk could also be interpreted to mean that the author was referring to both types and placing both of them in the post-150 AD time-period. Which I'm fine with, because it permits me to assign an approximate date to my coin. Accordingly, I've changed the description of my coin to say the following:

Diva Faustina I [Senior] (wife of Antoninus Pius), AR Denarius, prob. 150-160 AD [see Dinsdale, infra at p. 216 -- including this type among coins issued upon and after 10th anniversary of Faustina’s deification]. Obv: Draped bust right, DIVA FAVSTINA / Rev: Ceres, veiled, standing left, holding torch in left hand and holding right hand up in greeting, CONSECRATIO. RIC III 382b corr.*, RSC II 165a, Sear RCV II 4593, Dinsdale 020610 [Dinsdale, Paul H, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage (2018) at p. 249; photo at p. 254]. 17 mm., 3.3 g.

* RIC III 382b erroneously describes Faustina’s bust on obverse as veiled. (RIC III 382a has different obverse legend [DIVA AVG FAVSTINA]).

 

http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Antoninus/Pius_Coinage.html
Paul Dinsdale, 2018