Faustina As & Dupondius Lot - The Old Weight/Size Problem Again

I know there's been several threads discussing the problem assigning denominations to empress AEs. In a nutshell, the only way to tell the difference between an as and a dupondius is by size and/or material (copper for as, brass (orichalcum) for dupondius).

This past month I have gotten three AEs from Faustina I and II. I am showing these below because of the third one in the lineup - as far as I can tell, this only comes as an as (RIC 1643). But it looks brassy to me - and its weight seems to fall in the realm of possibility for a dupondius. It has a very dumpy flan, cutting off virtually all the legends - it has the feel of an Indian "dump" AE. It is, in short, kind of weird.

The one on the left, despite dark patina/crud covering the metal, I feel can confidently be called a dupondius - it is very large (29 mm) and pretty heavy despite the wear.

The lifetime one (middle) looks coppery to me, so I think it is an as. But I'm guessing.

The yellowish FII is confusing - as noted above. I know there are some Faustina experts out there - I'd love some opinions.



Left: Faustina I Æ Dupondius
5th Phase: Anniversary of Faustina’s Deification
(c. 150-160 A.D.) Rome Mint
DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / [AETER]NITAS S C, Juno standing left with raised
right hand and holding scepter in left hand.
RIC 1155; Cohen 29; Sear 4636
(12.78 grams / 29 x 25 mm)


Center: Faustina I Æ As / Dupondius
(c. 138-141 A.D.) Lifetime Issue
Rome Mint
FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG PII PP, draped bust right, hair bound w. pearls / VENERI AVGVSTAE S C, Venus draped standing right, drawing drapery and holding apple.
RIC 1097; BMC 1132.
(11.54 grams / 25 mm)


Right: Faustina II Æ As ?
(161-176 A.D.)
Rome Mint
FAVST[INA AVGVSTA],pearl-diademed, draped bust right / HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm and cornucopiae. S-C across fields.
RIC 1643; Cohen 113; BMCRE 982; Sear 5296.
(12.37 grams / 22 mm)

 

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It can be difficult to distinguish between asses and dupondii on coins of empresses before crescents were used to distinguish between the as and the dupondius on coins of Julia Mamaea.

In general, asses weigh less than dupondii, but there's a lot of overlap. Antonine asses weigh about 11 g or a bit less and dupondii about 12.5 g or a bit more (BMCRE4, p. xv). However, any individual coin could weigh 1.5 g or so more or less than these averages. It's hard to say with a 12.37 g coin without some other indication of denomination.

The best indication is color of any bare metal that shows through. Your Faustina II coin is a dupondius -- on the basis of the brassy color and the > 12 g weight. It just has a dumpy flan. Moreover, the British Museum specimen is probably a dupondius. Read the footnote to BMCRE 982. It weighs 12.26 g:



In bronze, I only have the sestertius version of the coin. I have apparently never posted this on CT before:


Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.36 g, 30.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bust, right, with two strands of pearls.
Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing facing, head left, holding long palm and cornucopiae.
Refs: RIC 1642; BMCRE 911-13; Cohen 112; RCV 5275.

And that lifetime AE II of Faustina I -- AWESOME!

 

Thanks RC! I knew you could help me out with this. I'm going to adjust my attributions accordingly. I don't have enough know-how to make a dupondius/as call on the tricky ones, and I thought that dumpy one looked pretty yellow for a copper as. I appreciate your efforts.

Thanks too for the nice comment on my new "lifetime" Faustina I - I was pretty thrilled with it when it came in the mail. It is very pitted, but I will call it "Tiber Patina" to make it sound better than it is. Here is another view: