Some may notice that I seem to be copying the reverses of Gil's recent coin posts... first Aequitas, now Pudicitia. Purely coincidence, we did not plan this . This Faustina Jr was another coin fair purchase. The flan is slightly irregular and it's a little off center, but on the plus side I find the Guinness stout (ie., black and tan) patina very attractive. Faustina's head is also struck in fairly high relief. This is a coin I'm really enjoying. Feel free to post your Pudicitia's or Faustina Jr's! FAUSTINA JUNIOR (struck under Antoninus Pius) As or Dupondius 11.5g, 26mm Rome mint, 145-146 AD RIC III 1403 (Antoninus) O: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust right, hair coiled at the back of head with band around. R: PVDICITIA S-C, Pudicitia standing left, holding out cloak in both hands, right hand raised.
It's a beautiful coin! I don't have anything to share, but I like the term Guinness Stout Patina - let's make it a part of the official ancient numismatic nomenclature.
That's definitely a nice coin. And yeah, nice patina. Hopefully, the coin looks similar in hand. You gotta get a Altar of Lugdunum next. lol Faustina II Denarius. 3.1g, 18mm OBV: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Diademed & draped bust right. REV: SALVS Salus seated left feeding from a patera a snake arising from an altar. REF: RSC 195. RIC 714. Sear 5262.
That's an awesome new addition, Z-bro (sweeeeet!!) => and yes, it does have an alluring Guinness stout appearance (yummy!) I only have this Faustina-II offering ... ummm, I'm pretty sure that the seller described it as having a pale "Bud Light" appearance?
That is one of the nicest portraits of FII I've seen. Most make her look kinda pigish, but the OP coin's portrait makes her look beautiful.
That's a beautiful and unusual portrait. I haven't seen another like it. I don't have a relevant coin to show but here's an interesting tidbit, noted while reading about other emperors. Some historical records paint Faustina Jr. as sexually insatiable, alleging affairs with a wide swathe of men. This may or may not be true but the rumor was apparently active in her lifetime. The Pudicita coins were an attempt to mitigate the perception by associating her with the personification of sexual virtue.
An Altar of Lugdunum is on my want list! I'm glad to say that the coin in hand looks very close to the photo. I consider myself no expert when it comes to photographing coins and I work with a rapidly failing 8-year old point-and-shoot camera, but I just try to get my pictures to look as close as possible to what I see in hand in daylight.
If RIC is right with the dating, this coin would have been issued around the time of Faustina's marriage to Marcus Aurelius and would certainly have served as an attempt to burnish her reputation, whatever that may have been at the time. All the same, Pudicitia was a common enough reverse type for the Empresses (and er, Hadrian and Trajan Decius ) from Sabina through the Severan Julias and all the way up to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century.
Thanks for the compliments, folks. Some of these Faustina Jr coins that were struck under Pius when she was a young woman can have quite passably beautiful portraits. Just for the record I'm all for having patinas named after types of beer (or your choice of alcoholic beverage). I believe there's even a variety of green beer produced, so we've got that covered .
that is a very attractive coin. just the way i like 'em, a little rough so it looks like an ancient, but great details, and a sweet patina. the color is fantastic, black and tan indeed.
