Faustina the Elder As - Attribution Confusion - Torches! Scepters!

So I was looking over some of the less attractive areas of my collection and came across this As (I think - it weighs 9 grams - is this a dupondius?) of Faustina I (the elder), a posthumous DIVA issue. It has a thick black patina (or crud) with areas of raw copper showing. My problem is that I cannot figure out how to attribute it.





My confusion comes from the reverse, which appears to be a goddess (Ceres? Juno?) holding a torch and a scepter. I cannot find this exact combination in Wildwinds for a bronze.

Here is what I found:

RIC 1120 (sestertius): Ceres standing left, holding two torches
RIC 1177 (as): Juno standing left, raising right hand and holding sceptre
RIC 56 (aureus): Ceres standing left, holding torch in right hand, sceptre in left. Cohen 95.

All of these have problems. RIC 1120, despite being a sestertius, looks close, but I just don't think mine has two torches. RIC 1177 has the general look down, but an empty hand.

I included that aureus because the reverse description (and photo) looks most like my cruddy bronze. Here is the aureus from Wildwinds (a beauty):



I'm stumped. Can anybody help?

 

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Sometimes an As or Dupondius can be difficult to determine if there is no radiate crown (for the emperors) so it comes down to weight and/or metal. Yours is clearly copper, so makes it an As. It would be RIC1173 or 4, Ceres holding torch or scepter (RIC1173) or Ceres holding two torches (RIC1174). Due to the wear I cant be sure, it depends on the length of the object in her left hand since the one in her right is clearly a short torch.

 

I was just prepping a picture to say what Ken just said. Here's the page in RIC 3:

 

Thank you so much TIF and Ken Dorney! My lack of a set of RIC is showing. I appreciate your help.

 

Yours is made of copper, not orichalcum, and therefore yours is an as.

Two examples from my collection of the Ceres with two torches reverse. The torch in her left hand is longer than the one in her right hand:

 

FAUSTINA Sr
AE As
OBVERSE: DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right
REVERSE: AVGVSTA S-C, Ceres standing left holding torch & corn-ears
Struck at Rome, 148-161AD
13.5g, 27mm
RIC 1171

 

I think mine is the torch/scepter combination. My unprovable theory on this is that the torches are held by the goddess farther out than the scepter (a good idea with a flaming torch!). Two torches will be held away from the body at roughly the same angle (as in your examples). A scepter is usually held more vertically, closer to the body. The photo aureus in my original post gives a clear example of this theory.

Of course the "hand made" aspect of these coins means there are a lot of variations. Or I might just be wrong!

 

Glad my post was helpful in making this determination.

 

It was very helpful - thank you very much. I had no idea there were so many torch/scepter combinations in these Faustina issues.