Faustina Friday – A Coin of British Association with a Veiled Bust

Happy Friday, everyone! After a three-week foray into the coins of Faustina II, it's time to discuss a coin issued for her mother. This one is a new acquisition and I think it's fascinating.

Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman Æ as, 8.66 g, 23.5 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 253-255.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, veiled and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS S C, Pietas standing left, raising right hand and holding incense box in left.
Refs: RIC 1162(b); BMCRE 1543; Cohen 45; Strack 1270; RCV –; Walker no. 315 & pl. XXXVII.[1]
Notes: Ex Crescent collection. Very rare. Known specimens are limited to the Paris specimen cited by Cohen and Strack, the British Museum specimen, the specimen found at Bath and illustrated by Walker, and this coin. The Bath specimen, the British Museum specimen, and this coin were struck with the same obverse die. I have not had the opportunity to examine the BnF specimen to determine whether it, too, is an obverse die match.​

Thanks to the work of Martin Beckmann,[2] we have been able to arrange the undated coinage of Faustina I in chronological order and, in many cases, assign a rough date of issue. Beckmann accomplished this by constructing a nearly complete sequence of die-linkages for the aurei, supported by additional shorter, but corroborative, die-linkages amongst the aurei and the sestertii. Moreover, by studying hybrids of dated coins of Antoninus Pius or Aurelius Caesar which bear Faustina's reverse types, and by studying the connections of issues to other dated events, he has been able to assign actual -- not just relative -- dates to certain issues.

Faustina's coinage is divided into five main phases commencing with the deification and funeral of Faustina. The issue I discuss today belongs to the fifth and final of these, which commenced in AD 150 for the tenth anniversary of Faustina's death and deification but continued for some years afterward. These coins all bear the late obverse inscription DIVA FAVSTINA, which may appear as DIVA-FAVSTINA or DIVA FAV-STINA.

Because this coin was issued in the middle bronze denominations only, it falls outside of Beckmann's die-linkage study of the aurei and sestertii. However, we are on fairly firm ground in assigning a date of AD 153-155 to this issue based upon hoard analysis, which I shall discuss below.

The coin bears the reverse legend of AETERNITAS and depicts a female figure in matronly attire, standing left, raising her right hand and holding an incense box in her left. The coin is most commonly encountered with a bare-headed bust and it was issued in both the dupondius and as denominations, though the as denomination is much more common.[3]

The bare-headed version of the coin, a copper as, RIC 1162(a); BMCRE 1542. British Museum Specimen.​

In addition, the reverse motif also appears on middle bronzes which depict the female figure standing before an altar.

Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.92 g, 26.5 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 153-55.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS S C, female figure standing left, dropping incense over altar with right hand and holding incense box in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1161; BMCRE 1558; Cohen 43; RCV 4641; Strack 1271.​

Surprisingly, the identity of the reverse figure is a matter of some debate. Cohen[4] identifies her as "Aeternitas (or Pietas?)" and Strack[5] as "Pietas(?)," even on the coins with the altar and incense box. In RIC, Mattingly and Sydenham unambiguously identify the reverse figure as Pietas on both the altar and no-altar coins and also notes the presence of an incense box in the figure's left hand.[6] However, writing alone and at a later date in BMCRE,[7] Mattingly describes the figure on the issues without the altar as "Juno?" and omits the incense box from its description, writing instead, "with l. hand at side"; however, though held closer to the body than on many specimens, the incense box is still visible in the hand in the photographs of the relevant coins online. To his credit, Mattingly describes the figure on the issue with the altar as "Pietas" and notes the presence of the incense box.[8] However, he offers this strange footnote: "Variant of rev., no altar, C. 44; with obv. 2, C. 45: this reverse is very similar to our Nos. 1542, 1543."[9] It is as if he had forgotten what he had correctly written earlier in RIC. Walker[10] correctly notes the presence of the incense box and unequivocally identifies the figure as Pietas.

The difficulty identifying the reverse figure on the AETERNITAS series is that the figures are not explicitly identified. Mattingly[11] rightfully clarifies that the coins of the large series of AETERNITAS reverse types issued for Faustina cannot be taken simply as the name of a goddess, Aeternitas. He explains:

It is ... difficult to define the character of the figures associated with the legend. They may be regarded as varying representations of the spirit of Aeternitas with emblems borrowed from the goddesses and virtues who inhabit her sphere; or, as so many goddesses, Juno, Fortuna, and the rest; or as Diva Faustina, bearing the attributes of such goddesses in Eternity. The third probably comes nearest the the exact quality of Roman thought but, in the text, we have thought it best to define the types as far as possible by their attributes -- Juno by her sceptre and Fortuna by her rudder.

Because the female figure on the reverse of these coins bears the attributes of Pietas – an incense box and on one variant an altar – she is properly identified Pietas, although she appears together with the reverse inscription of AETERNITAS.

One of the more interesting features of the coin is that it is what has been termed a "coin of British Association." Both @Marsyas Mike and I have discussed such coins previously here and here, respectively. These coins apparently comprised a large shipment of medium bronze to Britain in AD 155, as shown by the coin finds at Bath and, apparently, these were issued exclusively for use in Britain. Dated to AD 154/55 is the Britannia type of Antoninus Pius (RIC 934) which comprised 213 out of 299 (71%) of asses found in the Bath deposit.[12] Walker and later Moorhead[13] therefore date the coins of the deposit to a reasonable AD 153-155. Our own @curtislclay dates these British association issues to AD 154-155.[14]

Post your coins of British association, middle bronzes of Faustina I, or anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes

1. Walker, D. R. Roman Coins from the Sacred Spring at Bath. Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, Fascicle 2 of Monograph No. 16, Oxford, 1988, pp. 295 and 298.

2. Beckmann, Martin. Diva Faustina: Coinage and Cult in Rome and the Provinces. American Numismatic Society, 2012.

3. Walker (op. cit.) notes that of the 9 dupondii and 65 asses of this type in the Bath deposit, only one coin, an as, had the veiled bust.

4. Cohen, Henry. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Tome II: de Nerva à Antonin (96 à 161 après J.-C.). Paris, 1882, nos. 43-45, p. 416.

5. Strack, Paul L., Untersuchungen zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts, vol. 3, Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. Stuttgart 1937.

6. Mattingly, Harold and Edward A. Sydenham. The Roman Imperial Coinage. III, Spink, 1930, nos. 1161-62, p. 166.

7. Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968, nos. 1542-43, p. 247.

8. Ibid., no. 1558, p. 249.

9. Ibid, 1558n., p. 249.

10. Walker, D. R., op. cit.

11. Mattingly, op. cit., p. lxii.

12. Walker, D. R., op. cit., pp. 294-95.

13. Moorhead, Sam. "'Coins of British Association,' after David Walker and David Shotter, with Additions by Sam Moorhead." Academia.edu, 26 May 2015, https://www.academia.edu/12608461/C..._David_Shotter_with_additions_by_Sam_Moorhead.

14. Clay, Curtis L. "The Supply of Bronze Coins to Britain in the Second Century." Numismatic Chronicle, vol. 149, 1989, pp. 213-15.

 

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Very interesting. I'm definitely looking out for those coins of 'British association', as otherwise I don't have much of an excuse to buy any of Faustina

As you mention, this is of British association both in the subject matter and the likelihood that it was struck for use in Britain...

Antoninus Pius As, 154-155

Britain or Rome. Bronze, 8.6g. Laureate head, ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVIII. Britannia seated left on rock, resting head on hand; arms in background, BRITANNIA - COS IIII, SC in exergue (RIC III, 934).

Given the numbers found in Britain and Rome, these were probably either struck in Britain (from dies cut in Rome) or to circulate in Britain. Indeed, they were probably struck in both Rome and Britain, with the British issues being lighter (8.8g), and stylistically inferior. Britannia is thought to either be in mourning (holding her hand to her forehead) or at peace - the Roman shield at her side and a Roman army flag nearby remind the local people of the protection given by the Roman army on the northern frontier.

There are a lot of coins struck to commemorate victories in Britain. I don't know if they were intended for circulation in Britain in particular, but I presume the Romans would want to get their message out to the British. This is one of them:

Commodus VICT BRIT Commemorative Sestertius, 184

Rome. Bronze, 29.5mm, 22.6g. M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT. Victory, winged, draped, seated right on shields, cradling palm frond in right arm, inscribing shield set on knee, two shields on ground, VICT BRIT P M TR P VIIII IMP VII COS IIII P P S C, VICT BRIT in exergue (RIC III, 440). A serious revolt erupted in Britain in 184, which was quickly put down.

And of course, Commodus was Faustina II's son and Faustina's grandson, so it links through them too...

 

Fantastic, @John Conduitt! That's a great example of the Britannia type of Antoninus Pius (RIC 934) that I discuss in the last paragraph of today's installment. The overwhelming presence of that coin in the Bath deposit is how we can confidently date these coins of British association. Be sure to read Sam Moorhead's article about these. You'll also want to read @curtislclay 's paper in Numismatic Chronicle.

 

Great continuing series of posts @Roman Collector !

My one and only Faustina but with new packaging.

 

Faustina I Pietas & Aternitas:

 

Happy Friday, @Roman Collector!
Time flies. Next week will be Thanksgiving, and Christmas is coming up fast.

Here are my Faustina Senior Aeternitas, and middle bronze of her.

 

That mug would be AWESOME, @Deacon Ray! I never get tired of your Faustina II from Gadara. I have one, too:

Very nice bronze issues of Faustina I, @Andres2! You might be interested in this installment of Faustina Friday, which deals with your AETERNITAS/Juno as.

 

Gorgeous! That's a fine example of the Aeternitas on globe issue. They are hard to find with well-struck and well-preserved reverses. And that's a very nice lifetime issue with Juno.

 

Another great FF, @Roman Collector As always, these send me back to my collection to see what I'm going to learn from your post. I have managed to thoroughly confuse myself (PIETAS types tend to do this).

I thought I had RIC 1161. It is in poor shape and I never bothered photographing it until today - it is raining here, so the lighting is terrible and my photo is worse than usual (I like to blame the Sun for my failings).

But now I see I am wrong - the obverse legend appears to be DIVA FAV... with what might be AVGVSTA to the right? The legends from 10-3 o'clock have been reduced to copper hamburger. Not RIC 1161, whatever it is:



So now I am thinking it is RIC 1192Aa...but that is described as a candelabrum altar, and this one looks like a regular plain old altar. Although OCRE shows non-candelabrum altars as examples (OCRE has a way of baffling me this way). In general, I am confused...

Here are two versions of RIC 1192 (so I think), one of which clearly has a candelabrum-type altar; one is veiled (my only middle bronze FI with a veil):

Veiled (altar is obscure on this one):

Faustina I Æ As / Dupondius
1st Phase: funeral, deification
(c. 140-143 A.D.) Rome Mint
[DI]VA AVGVSTA FAVSTIN[A], veiled and draped bust right / [PIETAS AVG] S-C, Pietas standing left, holding incense box and dropping incense onto candelabrum-altar left.
RIC 1192Ab (as / dupondius)
(11.99 grams / 26 mm)
eBay June 2021

Not Veiled with candelabrum-type altar:

Faustina I Æ As / Dupondius
1st Phase: funeral, deification
(c. 140-143 A.D.) Rome Mint
[DIVA] AVGVS-TA FAVSTIN[A], draped bust right / PIETAS AVG, S-C, Pietas
standing left, dropping incense onto candelabrum-altar and holding box of incense.
RIC 1192Aa; Cohen 241.
(11.97 grams / 28 mm)
eBay Aug. 2019

Argh. Thanks in advance as always.

 

Not a middle bronze, not of British association, but at least she's veiled !


Faustina I (posthumous), sestertius, Rome 141-143. AE 31 mm, 20.41 g.
DIVA AVGVS - TA FAVSTINA, draped and veiled bust right.
PIETAS AVG, Pietas, veiled, draped, standing, left, dropping incense out of right hand over lighted candelabrum-altar left, and holding box in left hand.
RIC III Antoninus Pius 1146 Ac

 

Your coin, assuming it is an as or dupondius and reads DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA and not DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, would be RIC 1193B(a), issued in AD 143 for the dedication of the Temple to Diva Faustina BUT IT IS FAR FROM CLEAR WHETHER RIC 1192A and 1193B are actually different coins. It all comes down to the presence (or absence) of an incense box in Pietas' left hand and whether or not Cohen meant to distinguish coins based upon the type of altar or not (hence all the parentheses in the RIC listings for the coins). RIC 1192A = Cohen 241; RIC 1193B = Cohen 250.



Let's turn to Cohen to compare:



Cohen 241 says "candelabrum or altar" and "holding a box."
Cohen 250 is the same reverse type as 245, "garlanded and lighted altar" and "raising the right hand" but says nothing about an incense box.

The question is what Cohen intended: did he mean for 241 to refer to the candelabrum altar type only and 250 to refer to the garlanded cylindrical altar? Or did he mean that 241 refers to either altar type and Pietas has an incense box and that 250 refers only to a type with a garlanded altar and Pietas has no incense box???

I personally think it's the former and assign 1192A/Cohen 241 to the candelabrum type and 1193B/Cohen 250 to the garlanded cylindrical type and assume that Pietas is intended to have an incense box on both types (though on worn specimens it's often impossible to see).

If the latter case, I think it's that Cohen 250 refers to a worn specimen of 241 on which the incense box isn't visible and it is simply erroneously described. In this case, both altar types would be RIC 1192A.

I don't have an example of that middle bronze in my collection; this is the closest I have.



Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman orichalcum dupondius, 10.26 g, 27.4 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 140-41.
Obv: DIVA AVGVS-TA FAVSTINA, veiled and draped bust, right.
Rev: PIETAS AVG S C, Pietas, veiled, draped, standing left, dropping incense out of right hand over lighted "candelabrum-altar," left, and holding box in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1192Ab; BMCRE 1472; Cohen 241; Strack 1241; RCV --.

Oooh!! That's lovely!

 

Thank you for your help with this, RC. But I'm still a little confused; my coin has an AETERNITAS reverse legend, so it cannot be 1193 or 1192, since those have PIETAS reverse legends.

Sorry for not providing more relevant data; here are the basics:

Obverse legend: DIVA FAV... with what might be AVGVSTA to the right
Reverse legend: AE[TER]NITAS
Reverse figure: Female figure (Pietas?) standing left by altar, right hand
raised. Altar is not candelabrum type. I do NOT see a perfume box in her hand, but the reverse is pretty pitted, so it might be obscured.
Size: 7.65 grams / 25 mm
Denomination: I'm pretty sure this is an as. It has been harshly cleaned and is very coppery in color (more apparent in hand).

 

I see it now, @Marsyas Mike; thanks for clarifying. That is an example of this coin (from my collection).


Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.92 g, 26.5 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 153-55.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS S C, female figure standing left, dropping incense over altar with right hand and holding incense box in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1161; BMCRE 1558; Cohen 43; RCV 4641; Strack 1271.

Yours is a variant where the obverse legend is broken DIVA FAV-STINA and the incense box is difficult to see when worn. Yours more resembles the specimen in the British Museum:

 

Thank you RC - I appreciate the help!