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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 8259711, member: 75937"]<img src="https://media3.giphy.com/media/3o8doKOr3E5hvVT8Sk/giphy.gif?cid=790b76114cc65248c81a47fa4818f0eebce79f2a11da92d3&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> TGIFF, everybody! Today we're going to talk about Laetitia. There are many words in Latin for "happiness" which appear on Roman coins. Felicitas connotes contentment, hilaritas connotes rejoicing, and laetitia connotes a feeling of <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DL%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dlaetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DL%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dlaetitia" rel="nofollow">joy, exultation, rejoicing, gladness, pleasure, or delight</a>. Personifications of Felicitas, Hilaritas, and Laetitia commonly occur on Roman coins. Unsurprisingly, all three appear on the coinage issued for Faustina II. However, most relevant to the discussion at hand, is that the Latin word laetitia also carries connotations of fertility.[1] Laetitia is personified on Roman coins as a Roman matron, clad in the <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/matronly-garments-the-stola-and-palla.346585/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/matronly-garments-the-stola-and-palla.346585/">stola and palla</a>, holding a scepter, ears of grain, a wreath, an anchor or a rudder on globe.[2] Coins depicting Laetitia as a reverse type were issued twice in Faustina's lifetime, each time in conjunction with the birth of a child, the first time in December, AD 147 to commemorate the birth of Faustina's first child, <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-%E2%80%93-the-first-%C3%86-issues-for-the-empress.383947/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-%E2%80%93-the-first-%C3%86-issues-for-the-empress.383947/">Domitia Faustina</a>,[3] and again in late AD 162 to commemorate the birth of <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-fecvnditas-laetitia-and-the-birth-of-marcus-annius-verus.383270/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-fecvnditas-laetitia-and-the-birth-of-marcus-annius-verus.383270/">Marcus Annius Verus</a>.[4] The first Laetitia types were struck under Antoninus Pius and were issued in the aureus, denarius, sestertius, and middle bronze denominations. These coins carry the dative obverse inscription FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL and depict the empress in her earliest hairstyle. The empress may be depicted bare-headed, wearing a circlet of pearls around her head, or wearing a stephane. With the exception of the sestertius, which is not known with the bare-headed bust type, all three bust types appear on all denominations. The portrait always appears right-facing. The reverse features the dative inscription LAETITIAE PVBLICAE ("for public rejoicing") and depicts Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding a wreath in her right hand and a scepter in her left. Here are some examples, chosen to demonstrate the various denominations and bust types (all coins from my collection unless indicated otherwise). [ATTACH=full]1456562[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Aureus depicting the empress wearing a circlet of pearls around her head, British Museum collection, RIC 506b, BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-12586" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-12586" rel="nofollow">1046</a>.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456563[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 3.03 g, 17.4 mm, 5 h.Rome, December AD 147- early 148.Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath in in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.Refs: RIC 506a; BMCRE 1048; Cohen/RSC 155; Strack 491; RCV 4705; CRE 195.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456564[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Sestertius depicting the empress wearing the stephane, British Museum collection, RIC 1378c; BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1913-0604-62" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1913-0604-62" rel="nofollow">2139</a>.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456565[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.71 g, 27.6 mm, 12 h.Rome, December AD 147- early 148.Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath in in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.Refs: RIC 1401b; BMCRE 2155-56; Cohen 158; Strack 1300; RCV 4729.</blockquote> The second Laetitia types were struck under Marcus Aurelius and similarly were issued in the aureus, denarius, sestertius, and middle bronze denominations. These coins carry the nominative obverse inscription FAVSTINA AVGVSTA and depict the empress in the Beckmann type 7, 8, or 9 hairstyle. Of these, the type 7 hairstyle is by far the most frequently encountered. The empress may be depicted bare-headed, wearing a circlet or double circlet of pearls around her head, or wearing a stephane. The portrait always appears right-facing. The reverse features the nominative inscription LAETITIA ("rejoicing")[5] and depicts either Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding a wreath in her right hand and a scepter in her left, or the mirror image of the reverse: Laetitia standing facing, head right, holding a scepter in her right hand and a wreath in her left. This "mirror image" reverse does not appear on the aureus but is known on the three other denominations Here are some examples, chosen to demonstrate the various denominations, hairstyles, and reverse orientations (all coins from my collection unless indicated otherwise). [ATTACH=full]1456566[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Aureus, Beckmann type 9 hairstyle, RIC 699, ANS <a href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1959.228.2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1959.228.2" rel="nofollow">1959.228.2</a>.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456567[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Aureus, Beckmann type 8 hairstyle, RIC 699, Münzkabinett Berlin <a href="https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?id=18273321" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?id=18273321" rel="nofollow">18273321</a>.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456569[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 2.60 g, 18.1 mm, 5 h.Rome, late AD 162- early 163.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle and wearing a double circlet of pearls.Rev: LAETITIA, Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding wreath and scepter.Refs: RIC 700; BMCRE --; Cohen 147; RCV 5258 var; CRE 197.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456568[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 3.41 g, 18.7 mm, 11 h.Rome, late AD 162- early 163.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle and wearing stephane.Rev: LAETITIA, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and scepter.Refs: RIC 701; BMCRE 129-131; Cohen 148; RCV --; MIR 21-4/10b diad.; CRE 198.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456571[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman orichalcum sestertius, 24.69 g, 32 mm, 11 h.Rome, late AD 162- early 163.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle and wearing a double circlet of pearls.Rev: LAETITIA S C, Laetitia standing facing, head right, holding vertical scepter in right hand and wreath in left hand.Refs: RIC --; BMCRE --; Cohen --; RCV --; MIR 21-6/10b.Note: Rare, mirror-image reverse type.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1456572[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-176.Roman Æ dupondius or as, 10.80 g, 24.7 mm, 11 h.Rome, late AD 162- early 163.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle and wearing a double circlet of pearls.Rev: LAETITIA S C, Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding wreath in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.Refs: RIC 1656; BMCRE 988; Cohen 151 var. (pearls); RCV --; MIR21-7/10b.</blockquote> Let's see your coins depicting Laetitia, commemorating the birth of any of Faustina's children, or anything you feel is relevant! ~~~ Notes 1. Lewis, Charlton Thomas, et al. A Latin Dictionary: Founded on Andrews' Edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary, Rev., ENL. and in Great Part Rewritten by Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. Clarendon, 1879, s.v. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DL%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dlaetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DL%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dlaetitia" rel="nofollow">laetitia</a>, II. See also: Glare, P.G.W. Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2016; s.v. laetus, 1. 2. Vagi, David L. Coinage and History of the Roman Empire. Vol. 2, Coinworld, 1999, p. 69. See also Sear, David R. Roman Coins and Their Values. II, Spink, 2002, p. 39. 3. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 24 ff. 4. This had been suggested by Szaivert but later definitively demonstrated by Beckmann’s die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina II. See Szaivert, Wolfgang, Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161/192), Moneta Imperii Romani 18. Vienna, 1989, p. 230, and Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 60-61. 5. The denarius in the French national collection with the reverse inscription LAETITIA PVB cited by Cohen (no. 153) and in turn by RIC (no. 703) and BMCRE (p.402n*) is a fourrée and not an official issue. Cohen, Henry. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Tome III: de Marc Aurèle à Albin (161 à 197 après J.-C.). Paris, 1883, p. 148.[/QUOTE]

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