Faustina II denarius ignored for a dozen years or more

I finally got around to rephotographing some of my Faustina II denarii that were struck under Marcus Aurelius. I bought this one before my computer crashed in 2008, losing all my provenance and purchase records. For some inexplicable reason, I have never bothered to photograph it.

This in an interesting bust. It clearly portrays Faustina wearing a stola fastened at the shoulder with a fibula and a palla over her stola. This is one of the mature empress's more ornate coiffures, too; her hairstyle under Marcus Aurelius tends to be rather plain. Moreover, I believe she is wearing earrings.

So, making her CT debut, please give a warm welcome to Hilaritas!


Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman AR denarius, 3.40 g, 17.4 mm, 5 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bust of Faustina II, draped, right.
Rev: HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm-branch in right hand and cornucopia in left hand.
Refs: RIC 686; BMCRE 100; RSC 111; RCV 5254; CRE 182.
Notes: Also known with a bust wearing a circlet of pearls in the hair (RSC 111a, BMCRE 101-102) and with a left-facing bust (RSC 111b, BMCRE 103).

Post your coins you've had for a while but have never before posted here at CT!

 

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Nice example:

- I have this for more than 10 years
- Never posted at CT
- Needs rephotographing too
and is the same type with earring



Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome, AD 161-175
Obv.: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right
Rev.: HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm and cornucopiae
Ag, 3.47g, 18.13mm
Ref.: RIC 686, C 111, CRE 182 [C]

 

I love that bust type, and both of you have great coins there. I'll definitely be on the lookout for a similar bust type in the future.

 

Nice coins and interesting idea for a thread. I'm going to cheat slightly, because I think I posted one of these before. But they are both from a long time ago (for me, I mean) and I just reshot them. Back when I bought them, the only photos were on film!

I bought these in 1987 from a coin shop in Columbus Ohio. Some of my firsts. Buying ancients was frustrating back then - few to be found locally, and the catalogs were either way too high-end for me, or else sold out in moments, usually a day or two before I got my catalog in the mail. So hurray for the Internet.

1987 prices: the antoninianus of Elagabalus was $50 - a fortune for me then (and probably a pretty good deal - these seem to be scarce). The Severus Alexander was $23.



Elagabalus Antoninianus
(218-222 A.D.)
Rome Mint -
IMP ANTONINVS AVG, radiate draped & cuirassed bust right / PROVID DEORVM, Providentia left, standing, wand over globe & cornucopia; leaning on column
RIC 129, RSC 243, BMC 155
(5.09 grams / 23 mm)

I recall being a tad unhappy with this one because of the oblong flan and missing legends - I was pickier when young. What a coin slob I have become since then!


Severus Alexander Denarius
(222-223 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP C M AVR S[EV AL]EXAND AVG, laureate, draped bust right / PIET[A]S AVG, Pietas standing left, holding right hand over altar, incense box in left arm.
RIC IVii, 170 (s); Sear 7889.
(2.75 grams / 19 x 16 mm)

 

This is a recent purchase, but I've never posted it before and it happens also to be of Faustina II; I think it's a very appealing portrait of her. I like the single lock of hair on her neck.



(Seller's image.) Faustina II [Junior] (wife of Marcus Aurelius & daughter of Antoninus Pius), Augusta [struck under Marcus Aurelius], AR Denarius AD 170-175/76, Rome mint. Obv. Draped bust right, FAVSTINA AVGVSTA / Rev. Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; to left, peacock standing left, head right, IVNO. RIC III 688 (Aurelius), RSC II 120, Sear RCV II 5255. 3.60 g.

 

I just got this one. I love the portrait with the nice hair style.

 

Nice Faustina II examples.

 

Tejas' coin shows the best of the best portraits of Faustina as first daughter. Most of her early portraits are better than the later ones but that coin is extra special. I would like to have the sestertius that matches that denarius. This as is not as well done and worn.


My best Faustina II is Alexandrian.

 

I love the stola and fibula, I've never noticed that detail before!

Ah - so you were the culprit!! I wanted that coin! Just not quite enough, I guess... A superb portrait, congrats!

Meanwhile I still have to make do with this ho hum Salus:

This is a fantastic coin!! I don't recall having seen it before.

 

That's a lovely coin, with a portrait in fine style. The coins with the dative of dedication inscription, FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL (to Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus), are thought to be the first issues of Antoninus Pius for his daughter, dating to about AD 147-150.* This coin comes in a bare-headed version (RSC 266, RIC 517a, BMCRE 1075), a version with a single strand of pearls about the empress's head (RSC 266a, RIC 517c, BMCRE 1067-73), and with a double strand of pearls (RSC 266b, BMC 1074). Here's my version of the coin, with the single strand of pearls. The die-engraver made the empress a little slack-jawed.

Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman AR denarius, 2.64 g, 17.4 mm, 7 h.
Rome, AD 147-150.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bust of Faustina II, draped, right, with band of pearls round head.
Rev: VENVS, Venus, standing left, holding apple in right hand and rudder around which is twined a dolphin in left hand.
Refs: RIC 517c; BMCRE 1067-73; RSC 266a; Strack 495; RCV 4708; CRE 233.

Those are very nice examples, @dougsmit ! I, too, would like the sestertius version of the coin but I'll have to make do with the dupondius:


Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman orichalcum dupondius, 14.77 g, 26.5 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 147-150.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bust of Faustina II, draped, right, with band of pearls round head.
Rev: VENVS, Venus, standing left, holding apple in right hand and rudder around which is twined a dolphin in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1409b; BMCRE 2161-62; Cohen 269; RCV 4736.

*Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968, p. xliv.

 

This is one of my fears. As a result, I regularly back up my files and keep the backup somewhere else. That way if something happens to one I still have the other.

 

Not sure about this Faustina Denarius, which I attributed as RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 (var.) but I am not sure since she is wearing diadem that I think is different from the ones shown at http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.m_aur.688

Did I use the wrong RIC number?

Rome, 170 - 175/76 AD, struck under the authority of Marcus Aurelius
17 x 18 mm, 3.591 g
RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 (var) ?

Ob.: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA Bust of Faustina the Younger, diademed and draped, hair waved and fastened in a bun on back of head, right
Rev.: IVNO Juno, veiled, draped, standing left, holding patera in extended right hand and scepter in left hand; at left, peacock

​

 

Faustina Jr. Æ Dupondius or As. (27mm; 12.49 gm; 5h). Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust right. Rev: PIETAS S-C, Pietas standing left, holding cornucopiae, child at her feet, left. RIC III 1402, Cohen 174, BMC 2189.

 

Faustina Jr., wife of Marcus Aurelius. Augusta, 145-175 AD. AR Denarius (19x17mm; 2.86 gm; 6h). Rome mint. Struck 147-149 AD. Obv: Draped bust right. Rev: Venus standing left, holding apple and rudder around which is entwined a dolphin. RIC III 517a (Pius); RSC 266.

 

That variety with the bust wearing the stephane is unlisted in RIC and Cohen. It is listed in BMCRE and RSC: BMCRE 109; RSC 120b.

The early issues you show -- the middle bronze PIETAS type and the VENVS denarius -- are also lovely.

 

I see @Roman Collector (the expert!) beat me to it. I'll just add that the variety with diadem/stephane is listed in RIC for bronze (1646 sestertius, example: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5050156; and 1647 as/dupondius, example: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1284989.)

Lovely coins, @PeteB!

 

Thank you so much, you are lifesavers - I am impressed! Should have asked much sooner - instead of spending hours looking for it and ending up with a wrong attribution. Big THANK YOU

 

The revival of this thread reminds me of the sad reality that I never got this coin: it was lost in the mail -- pre-pandemic -- on the way from Belgium. The seller refunded half the money (because I stupidly opted for the cheapest postage, with no insurance or even tracking), but I'd much rather have the coin. The loss still annoys me!

 

How sad. That denarius had an elegant portrait.