This one just arrived in the mail from the latest Leu web auction. When I purchased it, I noticed that Mattingly* notes a dot after the obverse inscription on several bronzes (sestertii and asses) in the British Museum from this issue. On one coin, a dot also appears after AVGVSTA (BMCRE 1428). The purpose of this dot is unknown and it is not uniformly present, even on coins of the same type. I have a dupondius and an as of this issue with the same reverse design, but neither of them have a dot after the obverse inscription. Any thoughts? Please feel free to post anything relevant. Faustina I, AD 138-140. Roman orichalcum sestertius, 26.91 g, 32.3 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 140. Obv: DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA •, veiled and draped bust, right. Rev: AETERNITAS S C, Providentia standing front, head left, holding globe and scepter. Refs: RIC 1108b; BMCRE 1421; Cohen --; Strack 1230; RCV --; Dinsdale 018190. The dot after the obverse inscription is interesting. It's present also on the "mirror image" reverse type in the British Museum (BMCRE 1418): And also on the Dinsdale plate coin (Numismatica Ars Classica, May 2007). Moreover, the BMC version of my coin has the legend broken as DIVA AVGVS-TA FAVSTINA but still has a dot. However, the dot is not present in two of the three examples of my coin at Wildwinds. *Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968.
I hope this isn't too off-topic - not Faustina, but Hadrian. I recently got this sestertius and noticed it had what might be a dot after HADRIANVS on the obverse. A fairly common sestertius, but I didn't come across any others with the dot. Hadrian Æ Sestertius (134-138 A.D.) Rome Mint [HA]DRIANVS • A[VG COS III P P], laureate bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder / FELI[CITAS AVG], SC, Felicitas standing facing holding branch and caduceus. RIC 750e (var.? • obv. legend) (25.50 grams / 30 mm)
That's interesting and it looks purposeful, though, of course, it could be a chip in the die. The British Museum has four examples of RIC 750 (various bust types and such) but none of them have a dot in the obverse inscription, though.
