Help: Faustina II? Alexandria? And other adventures in ID-ing a mixed lot.

Hey all, I'd love some help ID-ing a few coins from a couple mixed lots, if you can spare your collective expertise...

First, we have what looks like a Faustina Junior bust facing right on obverse, and I feel like I can see a TINA on the bottom right. Reverse looks like someone with a cornucopia and the way the hips curve it reminds me of Alexandrian reverses, like Elpis, etc. Also there is a solid vertical bar bottom left what could be the top of an L? Or the leg of a chair and the figure is seated facing left? It's about 20x22mm, 6.1g



Next, we have what looks like Provincial Ant Pius facing right obverse with a letter or two (OC?) on the left. The reverse is someone on a prow of a ship facing left. It's 23mm, 11.7g.



Finally, it's a worn confronted bust, but can anyone figure out who the two are? Also the reverse is very worn and I can't make heads or tails of it (well, I actually DID get that far at least). I've included the reverse in different angles. It's 29x31mm, 16.1g.


Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated!!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

on the first photo..why is there a lion or some kind of creature in her hair style.
lower sw a man with a spear... not looking at the most defined image....
2nd ....me .......I see what looks like some kinda penguin type bird. with a 1 ...2 not a leg of a chair......................damm next ill be seeing mermaids.
and another thing is profile of face to the east 2nd photo

 

It does look like Faustina Jr but there are a few reasons it isn't Alexandrian. Tetradrachms of that era had more silver than does this coin, plus the weight is wrong for a tetradrachm, even when considering the wear and corrosion. There are some Alexandrian bronze denominations for Faustina Jr but again the metal doesn't look right nor does the flan shape. Obols and diobols had a distinctive casting shape, with the margins of one side rounded and the other side sharp, from casting the flan in a shallow bowl-like depression. Also, the reverse iconography doesn't fit with any of her obol or diobol issues.

The reverse seems to be a female deity or personification standing left, holding a cornucopia, and pouring from a patera over an altar. In Alexandrian coinage, that entity could be Homonoia. If the reverse is indeed Homonoia, Thrace is a possibility although the low bun on her portrait doesn't resemble the others I see in archives:

https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=4428&category=122754&lot=3632260




As @Roman Collector showed us in a recent thread, there is sometimes overlap of attributes among deities. Serapis is also occasionally depicted holding a cornucopia and pouring from a patera, so that might be a search avenue for you, although I believe the reverse of your coin shows a female. Other non-female entities who sometimes hold a cornucopia and pour from a patera over an altar include Genius, Tyche, Emperors (not sure about Empresses), Harmony (on Imperials), and probably some others.

Here's an interesting possibility from AC search: a Faustina bronze from Samaria. The listing calls the reverse figure Tyche. Tyche is not shown full length; her body seems cut off around her knees or thereabouts. Your coin looks like it may also show a less than full length reverse standing figure, although it's difficult to tell.

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4873883



Getting a firm ID on your coin is going to be difficult at best. Trying will be fun though!

Today, in addition to a long list of non-fun activities, I'm going to be photographing and trying to ID a bunch of ex-BCD coins which languished unattributed in his collection. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

I don't think that is Antoninus Pius although I'm not sure who it is. I suspect it is a Flavian provincial, perhaps Titus or Domitian. The design and style has a Levantine Style.

 

Yep, I think that second coin is Flavian and Judaean. Here are a couple of Titus examples from Ascalon which look very similar in style and fabric:

Wildwinds entry under Titus:


Titus, AE24 of Ascalon, Judaea. Struck 80-81 AD. ΣEBAΣTOΣ, laureate head right / AΣKAΛO, Tyche standing left on prow, holding standard and aphlaston, altar to left, dove standing left over ΔΠΡ (year 184) in right field. RPC II 2209; BMC 117.

An example from ACsearch:


JUDEE, ASCALON, Titus (79-81), AE bronze, 80-81, Droit : Tête l. à droite. Revers : Tyché debout à gauche sur une proue, tenant un étendard et un aphlaston. A gauche, un autel. A droite, une colombe et la date ΔΠP (an 184). Ref.: RPC 2209; BMC 117. 13,65g. Rare. Patine brun-vert.

 

When confronted with confronted bust challenges, Moesia Inferior is a great place to begin your search. Marcianopolis, Tomis, and other Moesian cities issued oodles of confronted bust bronze coins. Whether or not enough details remain on your coin to make any guesses about the identity... perhaps not.

 

TIF is scary good at this stuff! I’m going to guess that third one might be Judaean as well, or from that region. Fabric doesn’t look a provincial from the Balkans. I’d check acsearch for Judaea and confronted and see what pops up.

 

@Justin Lee -- fun project! I'm up to the challenge. The top coin is an Antonine woman for sure and, on the basis of the hairstyle, there are only two real possibilities: Faustina II or her daughter, Lucilla.

Faustina II:


Lucilla:


Crispina, although she also wore a chignon at the back of the head, isn't a serious possibility; her chignon is always bigger:

The obverse inscription will distinguish between Faustina II and Lucilla if any of it remains: ΦΑVCΤEΙΝΑ vs ΛΟVΚΙΛΛΑ.

The other question is the identity of the female deity on the reverse. I see a veiled female figure standing left, holding patera and cornucopiae. Probably an altar at her feet. This is MOST consistent with Eusebeia (Eὐσέβεια; Pietas in Latin) but Homonoia (Concordia) is a very real possibility.

So, doing a search at acsearchinfo on "Faustina Eusebeia" yields very little, as does the same search at V Coins. A search there for "Lucilla Eusebeia" yields even less. Using "Lucilla Eusebeia" at V Coins was equally unproductive.

Doing a search there for "Faustina Homonoia" was more productive in terms of the number of hits, but many of them are duplicates of coins from Hadrianopolis and Pautalia. The same search at V Coins yielded a couple from Hadrianopolis, one of which is similar to yours:



But Homonoia, even though she holds a patera and cornucopiae, is not veiled and she wears a polos on her head. Moreover, there's no vertical object at her feet.

"Lucilla Homonoia" yielded a single hit at acsearchinfo; none at V Coins.

I had been hoping to pull off a miracle -- IDing a provincial that @TIF couldn't -- but I can't find another example of your coin.

 

@TIF and @Roman Collector, you both are just simply amazing with your knowledge, presentation, and thoroughness!! I am indebted with the effort you spent. Thank you! Now off to acsearch and good ol' Google.

RIGHT!!! And thanks for the Judaean option to run with!