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Faustina Friday – The "All-Round" legends of December 160 – 163.
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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 7707897, member: 75937"]<i>Let's see your Antonine coins with "all-round" legends or anything you feel is relevant!</i></p><p><br /></p><p>As Strack notes,[1] a change in the style of inscriptions occurs in the gold and silver issues of the Antonine coinage in the very last tribunician year (TR POT XXIIII) of Pius' reign, December 160 – 17 March 161. Specifically, the inscriptions of this period are characterized by larger than normal letters, which are arranged all around the circumference of the coin, with no break above the portrait or reverse type. An example of a denarius of Antoninus Pius from this period with a reverse type relevant to the coins of Faustina II is illustrated below.[2]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322355[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Antoninus Pius, AD 138 – 161.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Roman AR denarius, 3.15 g, 18.1 mm, 11 h.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Rome, December, AD 160 – March, AD 161.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIIII, laureate head, right.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Rev: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Faustina II (as Pietas) standing left, holding a child on each arm; at each side of her, a child standing looking towards her and raising hand.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Refs: RIC <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.313C" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.313C" rel="nofollow">313c</a>; BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1894-1105-18" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1894-1105-18" rel="nofollow">1013</a>-14; Cohen 631; Strack 384; RCV 4098.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>This change also appears shortly thereafter in the coins of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus dated by tribunician or consular year to between 161 and 163. See, for example, Marcus Aurelius BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-40" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-40" rel="nofollow">10, p. 387</a>, of AD 161 and BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-247" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-247" rel="nofollow">243, p. 417</a>, of AD 163/4; Lucius Verus BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-282" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-282" rel="nofollow">25, p. 389</a>, of AD 161 and BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1936-0214-8" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1936-0214-8" rel="nofollow">299, p. 425</a>, of AD 163/4. However, by the end of the tribunician year 163/4, this practice had ceased, with the letters smaller in size and breaks reappearing in the inscriptions above the busts. See, for example, Marcus Aurelius BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-50" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-50" rel="nofollow">253, p. 419</a> and Lucius Verus BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1939-0608-5" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1939-0608-5" rel="nofollow">278 bis, p. 854</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Martin Beckmann, in his 2021 die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina II, has noticed that this inscriptional style is also seen on the aurei and denarii of Faustina issued between December AD 160 – 163.[3] He has identified five reverse types that appear with unbroken legends characteristic of this period: SALVTI AVGVSTAE (aurei only),[4] FECVND AVGVSTAE with four children, SAECVLI FELICIT with twin boys on a pulvinar, TEMPOR FELIC with six children, and VENVS standing holding either an apple or a dove and scepter. These are illustrated below. The hairstyle is typically a simple one, with the hair pulled back into a small bun (Beckmann type 5),[5] but specimens may depict her coiffure with a prominent wave at the brow (i.e. the SALVTI AVGVSTAE aureus below; Beckmann type 7).[6]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322356[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina II, Ꜹ aureus, SALVTI AVGVSTAE, Salus seated l. RIC 716. <a href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.49239" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.49239" rel="nofollow">ANS 1944.100.49239</a>.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322357[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Roman AR denarius, 3.32 g, 17.2 mm, 6 h.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Rome, December AD 160 – early 161.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3"> Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE, Fecunditas facing, head left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two more in hand (thought to represent Fadilla and Cornificia).</font></p><p><font size="3"> Refs: RIC 676; BMCRE 89-90; Cohen 95; Strack 520e; RCV 5251; CRE 178; MIR 10-4/10a.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322358[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, End August AD 161 – 162.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 711; BMCRE 136; Cohen 191; RCV 5260 var. (no stephane); CRE 221; MIR27-4/10a, b.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322359[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina II, AR denarius, TEMPOR FELIC, Female figure standing l., holding two infants; at either side, two children standing. RIC 719. Naumann, Auction 21, <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2114320" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2114320" rel="nofollow">lot 638</a>, 7 Sept. 2014.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322360[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina II, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman AR denarius, 3.09 g, 18.3 mm, 6 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, AD 161 – 163.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: VENVS, Venus standing left, holding dove in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 728; BMCRE 166; RSC/Cohen 249; Strack 520g; RCV --; CRE 231: MIR 33-4/10a.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322361[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina II, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman AR denarius, 3.36 g, 17.0 mm, 6 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, AD 161 – 163.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: VENVS, Venus standing left, holding dove in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand. </font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 730; BMCRE 167-68; RSC/Cohen 255; Strack 520i; RCV 5266; CRE 236: MIR 32-4/10a.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><b>Exceptions to the Rule</b></p><p><br /></p><p>The bronze coinage does not employ the all-round obverse legend. Beckmann postulates, "presumably the die-engraver responsible for the precious metals did not work on dies for the bronze."[7] This is illustrated on this sestertius of the FECVND AVGVSTAE reverse type.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322362[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina II, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman oricalchum sestertius, 22.36 gm, 33.7 mm, 12 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, December AD 160 – early 161.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE S C, (Faustina as) Fecunditas standing left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two infants in her arms (thought to represent Fadilla and Cornificia).</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 1635; BMCRE 902-904; Cohen 96; Strack 1336; RCV 5273; MIR 10.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The obverse inscriptions are broken when Faustina appears wearing a stephane, presumably to make room for this item of headgear without making the overall portrait too small. This is illustrated on this denarius of the SAECVLI FELICIT reverse type.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322363[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman AR denarius; 3.36 g, 17.1 mm, 6 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rome, End August AD 161 – 162.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, wearing stephane.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: RIC 712; BMCRE 139; Cohen 191; RCV 5260; CRE 222; MIR 27-4/10a, b Diad. </font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The reverse inscription on the two VENVS reverse types is broken, though the obverse inscription remains "all round." These two types are illustrated above, but I'll demonstrate this again, below.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1322361[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>~~~</p><p><br /></p><p>Notes</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Strack, Paul L. <i>Untersuchungen Zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts</i>. Kohlhammer, 1937, p. 11.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. Apart from the SALVTI AVGVSTI aureus and TEMPOR FELIC denarius illustrated below, all coins shown are from my own collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>3. Beckmann, Martin, <i>Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image</i>, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 56, 58-59.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. As Beckmann's die study (<i>op. cit</i>.) indicates, the SALVTI AVGVSTI aurei were issued over a period of several years beginning before the inscriptional change of AD 161 and continuing after the reappearance of the broken legends in AD 163.</p><p><br /></p><p>5. Beckman, <i>op. cit</i>., pp. 83-84, 90.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. Beckman, <i>op. cit</i>., p 90.</p><p><br /></p><p>7. Beckman, <i>op. cit</i>., p. 57.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 7707897, member: 75937"][I]Let's see your Antonine coins with "all-round" legends or anything you feel is relevant![/I] As Strack notes,[1] a change in the style of inscriptions occurs in the gold and silver issues of the Antonine coinage in the very last tribunician year (TR POT XXIIII) of Pius' reign, December 160 – 17 March 161. Specifically, the inscriptions of this period are characterized by larger than normal letters, which are arranged all around the circumference of the coin, with no break above the portrait or reverse type. An example of a denarius of Antoninus Pius from this period with a reverse type relevant to the coins of Faustina II is illustrated below.[2] [ATTACH=full]1322355[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Antoninus Pius, AD 138 – 161. Roman AR denarius, 3.15 g, 18.1 mm, 11 h. Rome, December, AD 160 – March, AD 161. Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIIII, laureate head, right. Rev: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Faustina II (as Pietas) standing left, holding a child on each arm; at each side of her, a child standing looking towards her and raising hand. Refs: RIC [URL='http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.313C']313c[/URL]; BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1894-1105-18']1013[/URL]-14; Cohen 631; Strack 384; RCV 4098.[/SIZE][/INDENT] This change also appears shortly thereafter in the coins of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus dated by tribunician or consular year to between 161 and 163. See, for example, Marcus Aurelius BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-40']10, p. 387[/URL], of AD 161 and BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-247']243, p. 417[/URL], of AD 163/4; Lucius Verus BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0710-282']25, p. 389[/URL], of AD 161 and BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1936-0214-8']299, p. 425[/URL], of AD 163/4. However, by the end of the tribunician year 163/4, this practice had ceased, with the letters smaller in size and breaks reappearing in the inscriptions above the busts. See, for example, Marcus Aurelius BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1937-0708-50']253, p. 419[/URL] and Lucius Verus BMCRE [URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1939-0608-5']278 bis, p. 854[/URL]. Martin Beckmann, in his 2021 die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina II, has noticed that this inscriptional style is also seen on the aurei and denarii of Faustina issued between December AD 160 – 163.[3] He has identified five reverse types that appear with unbroken legends characteristic of this period: SALVTI AVGVSTAE (aurei only),[4] FECVND AVGVSTAE with four children, SAECVLI FELICIT with twin boys on a pulvinar, TEMPOR FELIC with six children, and VENVS standing holding either an apple or a dove and scepter. These are illustrated below. The hairstyle is typically a simple one, with the hair pulled back into a small bun (Beckmann type 5),[5] but specimens may depict her coiffure with a prominent wave at the brow (i.e. the SALVTI AVGVSTAE aureus below; Beckmann type 7).[6] [ATTACH=full]1322356[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina II, Ꜹ aureus, SALVTI AVGVSTAE, Salus seated l. RIC 716. [URL='http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.49239']ANS 1944.100.49239[/URL].[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1322357[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175. Roman AR denarius, 3.32 g, 17.2 mm, 6 h. Rome, December AD 160 – early 161. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE, Fecunditas facing, head left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two more in hand (thought to represent Fadilla and Cornificia). Refs: RIC 676; BMCRE 89-90; Cohen 95; Strack 520e; RCV 5251; CRE 178; MIR 10-4/10a.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1322358[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175. Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12 h. Rome, End August AD 161 – 162. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus. Refs: RIC 711; BMCRE 136; Cohen 191; RCV 5260 var. (no stephane); CRE 221; MIR27-4/10a, b.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1322359[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina II, AR denarius, TEMPOR FELIC, Female figure standing l., holding two infants; at either side, two children standing. RIC 719. Naumann, Auction 21, [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2114320']lot 638[/URL], 7 Sept. 2014.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1322360[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina II, AD 147 – 175. Roman AR denarius, 3.09 g, 18.3 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 161 – 163. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VENVS, Venus standing left, holding dove in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand. Refs: RIC 728; BMCRE 166; RSC/Cohen 249; Strack 520g; RCV --; CRE 231: MIR 33-4/10a.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [ATTACH=full]1322361[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina II, AD 147 – 175. Roman AR denarius, 3.36 g, 17.0 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 161 – 163. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VENVS, Venus standing left, holding dove in right hand and vertical scepter in left hand. Refs: RIC 730; BMCRE 167-68; RSC/Cohen 255; Strack 520i; RCV 5266; CRE 236: MIR 32-4/10a.[/SIZE][/INDENT] [B]Exceptions to the Rule[/B] The bronze coinage does not employ the all-round obverse legend. Beckmann postulates, "presumably the die-engraver responsible for the precious metals did not work on dies for the bronze."[7] This is illustrated on this sestertius of the FECVND AVGVSTAE reverse type. [ATTACH=full]1322362[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina II, AD 147 – 175. Roman oricalchum sestertius, 22.36 gm, 33.7 mm, 12 h. Rome, December AD 160 – early 161. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FECVND AVGVSTAE S C, (Faustina as) Fecunditas standing left, between two children (thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla), holding two infants in her arms (thought to represent Fadilla and Cornificia). Refs: RIC 1635; BMCRE 902-904; Cohen 96; Strack 1336; RCV 5273; MIR 10.[/SIZE][/INDENT] The obverse inscriptions are broken when Faustina appears wearing a stephane, presumably to make room for this item of headgear without making the overall portrait too small. This is illustrated on this denarius of the SAECVLI FELICIT reverse type. [ATTACH=full]1322363[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Faustina Junior, AD 147 – 175. Roman AR denarius; 3.36 g, 17.1 mm, 6 h. Rome, End August AD 161 – 162. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, wearing stephane. Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus. Refs: RIC 712; BMCRE 139; Cohen 191; RCV 5260; CRE 222; MIR 27-4/10a, b Diad. [/SIZE][/INDENT] The reverse inscription on the two VENVS reverse types is broken, though the obverse inscription remains "all round." These two types are illustrated above, but I'll demonstrate this again, below. [ATTACH=full]1322361[/ATTACH] ~~~ Notes 1. Strack, Paul L. [I]Untersuchungen Zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts[/I]. Kohlhammer, 1937, p. 11. 2. Apart from the SALVTI AVGVSTI aureus and TEMPOR FELIC denarius illustrated below, all coins shown are from my own collection. 3. Beckmann, Martin, [I]Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image[/I], A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 56, 58-59. 4. As Beckmann's die study ([I]op. cit[/I].) indicates, the SALVTI AVGVSTI aurei were issued over a period of several years beginning before the inscriptional change of AD 161 and continuing after the reappearance of the broken legends in AD 163. 5. Beckman, [I]op. cit[/I]., pp. 83-84, 90. 6. Beckman, [I]op. cit[/I]., p 90. 7. Beckman, [I]op. cit[/I]., p. 57.[/QUOTE]
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Faustina Friday – The "All-Round" legends of December 160 – 163.
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