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Faustina Friday – Ceres or Proserpina?
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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 7833854, member: 75937"]Looks like an as on the basis of the fabric of the flan. Is it ~24-26 mm? 10-12 g? If so, it's:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-sr-avgvsta-s-c-vesta-standing-as-jpg.1342280/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina I, AD 138-140.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.37 g, 25.4 mm, 5 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, AD 145.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: AVGVSTA S C, Vesta veiled, standing left, holding palladium and scepter.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 1179; BMCRE 1582; Cohen 111; Strack 1294; RCV --.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for the link to your blog post about that drachm. Its iconography is indeed puzzling.</p><p><br /></p><p>Unpacking the iconography on classical art (including coins) when the figures are not explicitly labeled can be challenging. In classical Greek art, when a figure bearing two torches is not labeled or doesn't appear with Demeter (usually portrayed seated on a cista), that figure is usually identified as Demeter herself, bearing torches in search of her daughter in the underworld. So I can certainly understand why Price identifies her as Demeter rather than Artemis. I have no good explanation why the figure to the left of Zeus on your drachm of Alexander is identified as Artemis Phosphoros by other numismatists (Margaret Thompson?).</p><p><br /></p><p>Artemis Phosphoros is easily identified when she is depicted with other attributes of Artemis, such as a bow, arrow, or stag along with her torch.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/otacilia-severa-bizya-jpg.1092751/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Otacilia Severa, AD 244-249.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Thrace, Bizya Æ 23.5 mm, 6.89 gm, 7 h.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Obv: M WTAKEIΛIA CEBHPA CEB, diademed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Rev: ΒΙΖVΗΝΩΝ, Artemis Phosphoros standing right, holding arrow and torch; stag at her feet.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Refs: <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/337527" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/337527" rel="nofollow">Tachev, <i>Bizija</i> 5</a> (this coin); Moushmov 3514; Sear GIC 3991; Varbanov 1592; Lindgren II 759; Jurukova 147; Mionnet Suppl 2, 193; RPC VIII, (unassigned; <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48718" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48718" rel="nofollow">ID 48718</a>); CN <a href="https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/coins?id=9242" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/coins?id=9242" rel="nofollow">9242</a>; Milano IV/3 --; BMC Thrace --; SNG Tubingen --; SNG Copenhagen --;Wiczay --.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Notes: Double die-match to RPC specimen and to Lindgren II 759.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>In Roman iconography, as I noted in my reply to [USER=99412]@PeteB[/USER], Diana Lucifera (Artemis Phosphoros) has a standardized pose: standing, sometimes with a crescent on her shoulders, holding a transverse long torch with both hands.</p><p><br /></p><p>As the original post indicates, it can be tricky to identify a solitary figure holding two torches with no other context. But the context of the birth of a grandchild and the portrayal of the grandmother as Ceres by virtue of a grain-ear wreath points toward identifying the reverse figure as Kore/Proserpina, though other identifications are also possible: Ceres Taedifera or Diana Lucifera.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 7833854, member: 75937"]Looks like an as on the basis of the fabric of the flan. Is it ~24-26 mm? 10-12 g? If so, it's: [IMG]https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-sr-avgvsta-s-c-vesta-standing-as-jpg.1342280/[/IMG] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina I, AD 138-140. Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.37 g, 25.4 mm, 5 h. Rome, AD 145. Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: AVGVSTA S C, Vesta veiled, standing left, holding palladium and scepter. Refs: RIC 1179; BMCRE 1582; Cohen 111; Strack 1294; RCV --.[/SIZE][/INDENT] Thanks for the link to your blog post about that drachm. Its iconography is indeed puzzling. Unpacking the iconography on classical art (including coins) when the figures are not explicitly labeled can be challenging. In classical Greek art, when a figure bearing two torches is not labeled or doesn't appear with Demeter (usually portrayed seated on a cista), that figure is usually identified as Demeter herself, bearing torches in search of her daughter in the underworld. So I can certainly understand why Price identifies her as Demeter rather than Artemis. I have no good explanation why the figure to the left of Zeus on your drachm of Alexander is identified as Artemis Phosphoros by other numismatists (Margaret Thompson?). Artemis Phosphoros is easily identified when she is depicted with other attributes of Artemis, such as a bow, arrow, or stag along with her torch. [IMG]https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/otacilia-severa-bizya-jpg.1092751/[/IMG] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Otacilia Severa, AD 244-249. Thrace, Bizya Æ 23.5 mm, 6.89 gm, 7 h. Obv: M WTAKEIΛIA CEBHPA CEB, diademed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΒΙΖVΗΝΩΝ, Artemis Phosphoros standing right, holding arrow and torch; stag at her feet. Refs: [URL='https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/337527']Tachev, [I]Bizija[/I] 5[/URL] (this coin); Moushmov 3514; Sear GIC 3991; Varbanov 1592; Lindgren II 759; Jurukova 147; Mionnet Suppl 2, 193; RPC VIII, (unassigned; [URL='https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/48718']ID 48718[/URL]); CN [URL='https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/coins?id=9242']9242[/URL]; Milano IV/3 --; BMC Thrace --; SNG Tubingen --; SNG Copenhagen --;Wiczay --. Notes: Double die-match to RPC specimen and to Lindgren II 759.[/SIZE][/INDENT] In Roman iconography, as I noted in my reply to [USER=99412]@PeteB[/USER], Diana Lucifera (Artemis Phosphoros) has a standardized pose: standing, sometimes with a crescent on her shoulders, holding a transverse long torch with both hands. As the original post indicates, it can be tricky to identify a solitary figure holding two torches with no other context. But the context of the birth of a grandchild and the portrayal of the grandmother as Ceres by virtue of a grain-ear wreath points toward identifying the reverse figure as Kore/Proserpina, though other identifications are also possible: Ceres Taedifera or Diana Lucifera.[/QUOTE]
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