An interesting recent purchase depicts this Ustrina, in recent times is regarded as the correct terminology for what has traditionally been referred to by numismatists as a funeral pyre a term given for a wooden structure used for cremation. But in the early 1700's excavations near the column of Antoninus Pius reveled a 13sqm Podium surrounded by a double enclosure built of Travertine and marble believed to be the Ustrina for Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina, the structure on my coin could well be close to how this looked. Diva Faustina Senior. Died AD 140/1. Æ Sestertius (34.5mm, 25.11 g, 12h). Consecration issue. Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, circa AD 141-146. Draped bust right, wearing hair bound in pearls on top of her head / Funeral pyre in three stories, set on base, ornamented and garlanded, surmounted by charioteer in biga right. RIC III 1135 (Pius); Banti 61 var. (break in obv. legend). Brown surfaces, some deposits. Fine. Ex CNG e/auction 491 lot 405. Show me your Ustrina, Funeral Pyre, Wedding cake or whatever you want to call it....
I love it, @Ancient Aussie! You'll want to read Marvin Tameanko's "The Funerary Architecture of Antoninus Pius." The Celator, May 2009, pp. 6–18. Did you know your coin of Faustina gives us the earliest artistic representation of an imperial ustrinum on Roman coinage?[1,2] I have the dupondius version of the coin, one of the best cherry-picks I ever made! Faustina Senior, AD 138-141. Roman orichalcum dupondius, 16.19 g, 26.1 mm, 10 h. Rome, AD 140-141. Obv: DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: CONSECRATIO S C, Funeral pyre in three stories, set on base, ornamented and garlanded, surmounted by Faustina in biga right. Refs: RIC 1189; BMCRE p. 236 *; Cohen 187; RCV --; Strack 1238. Here's her hubby's ustrinum! Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161. Roman AR denarius, 3.26g, 17.2 mm, 5 h. Rome, AD 161. Obv: DIVVS ANTONINVS, head of Antoninus Pius, bare, right, with drapery on left shoulder. Rev: CONSECRATIO, ustrinum of four tiers decorated with garlands and statues and surmounted by a quadriga. Refs: RIC 438; BMCRE 60-64; RSC 164a; RCV 5193; MIR 24. Notes: Also struck with a right-facing bare head (no drapery) portrait. ~~~ 1. Sear, David R. Roman Coins and Their Values II: The accession of Nerva to the overthrow of the Severan dynasty AD 96 - AD 235, London, Spink, 2002, p. 273. 2. Beckmann, Martin. Diva Faustina: Coinage and Cult in Rome and the Provinces. American Numismatic Society, 2012, pp. 20-24.
I have presented this in the past but now I took a pic of it myself. One of my favorite coins from my collection. Divus Lucius Verus AD 169. Rome Denarius AR 18 mm., 2,70 g. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B; RSC 55, BMC 503 Date: AD 169 Obverse Legend: DIVVS VERVS Type: Head of Lucius Verus, bare, right Reverse Legend: CONSECRATIO Type: Funeral pyre (...ustrina?) in four tiers, adorned with statues and garlands, quadriga on top
heck...i guess i'll start taking pictures of my collection again...AA and all have inspired me.. ...here's Marcus A and Antonius P..30mm, 24.70 and 16mm, 2.11gms respectively..wedding cakes galore(but slightly used & thinned out a lil from handling)..
