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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 7841094, member: 75937"]Faustina Friday The AVGVSTI PII FIL Reverse Types (continued) Spes [ATTACH=full]1348815[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 3.44 g, 16.6 mm, 7 h.Rome, August, AD 156-157. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: AVGVSTI PII FIL, Spes standing left, holding flower and raising skirt. Refs: RIC 497; BMCRE 1106-08; Cohen 24; RCV 4702; Strack 518; CRE 217.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1348816[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman orichalcum sestertius, 29.89 g, 31.0 mm, 6 h.Rome, August, AD 156-157.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: AVGVSTI PII FIL S C, Spes standing left, holding flower and raising skirt. Refs: RIC 1371; BMCRE 2200-01; Cohen 25; RCV 4711; Strack 1332.</blockquote> Venus Victrix [ATTACH=full]1348817[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 3.27 g, 17.8 mm, 6 h.Rome, August, AD 156-157.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: AVGVSTI PII FIL, Venus standing left, holding Victory on right hand and resting left hand on shield set on helmet.Refs: RIC 495a; BMCRE 1099-1101; RSC/Cohen 15; RCV 4700; Strack 519; CRE 235.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1348818[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 3.21 g, 17.1 mm, 5 h.Rome, August, AD 156-157.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, left.Rev: AVGVSTI PII FIL, Venus standing left, holding Victory on right hand and resting left hand on shield set on helmet.Refs: RIC 495b; BMCRE 1102; RSC 15a; Cohen --; RCV --; Strack 519; CRE 235.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1348819[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Sestertius (RIC 1367), British Museum collection (BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-13958" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-13958" rel="nofollow">2195</a>).</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1348820[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman Æ as or dupondius, 12.05 g, 25.3 mm, 12 h.Rome, August, AD 156-157.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: AVGVSTI PII FIL S C, Venus Victrix standing facing, head left, holding Victory on extended right hand and resting left hand on shield, set on helmet.Refs: RIC 1389a; BMCRE 2202; Cohen 17; Sear 4721; Strack 1333.</blockquote> Dating the Series Absolute Chronology Previous numismatists, venerable though they may be, struggled to date the issues with certainty. Mattingly[3] dates the series to c. 154-156 or 157, Strack to 156-158,[4] and Sear to somewhat later – AD 157-161,[5] despite the evidence set forth by Strack and Mattingly for an earlier date. The most accurate date for the beginning of this issue, in my opinion, is <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-a-pondersome-dupondius.372253/#post-5311634" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-a-pondersome-dupondius.372253/#post-5311634">that worked out by Curtis Clay</a> ([USER=89514]@curtislclay[/USER]). After studying the types independently, he dates the introduction of the obverse legend FAVSTINA AVGVSTA to about August 156, two-thirds of the way through Antoninus' TR P XIX. He notes "At about the same time a similar Salus seated type to Faustina's, but omitting the goddess' scepter, was introduced on Antoninus' denarii with the rev. legend TR POT XIX COS IIII, and the same type was later continued with the date TR POT XX. Possibly these two Salus types were contemporaneous [with Faustina's FAVSTINA AVGVSTA/AVGVSTI PII FIL Salus seated as], meaning that Faustina's asses [of this reverse type] could be dated from Antoninus’ denarii to the same years 156-7." An end date of AD 157 has been determined by Martin Beckmann in the course of his die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina II.[6] Beckmann's study is entirely consistent with the dating worked out by Strack based upon a hoard of aurei found in Egypt in the 1920s.[7] The hoard included aurei of Pius dated by tribunician power to AD 143 (1 coin), 145 (1 coin), 146 (2 coins), 148 (1 coin), 149 (2 coins), 153 (2 coins), 154 (1 coin), 156 (6 coins), and 157 (29 coins). There are no later coins, so AD 157 is not only the terminal year of the hoard, but also the production year of half its contents. The hoard also included seven coins of Faustina II: 5 of Diana with a bow (filiation on reverse) and 2 of the Fecunditas seated with three children reverse (without filiation). Beckmann's die study shows clearly that these two types were in use exactly at the time when Faustina's filiation disappeared, marking the exact transition between coins with and without mention of her father.[8] [ATTACH=full]1348821[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Martin Beckmann's die-linkage chart demonstrating the loss of filiation with the appearance of the DIANA LVCIF and FECVNDITATI AVGVSTAE reverse types.</blockquote> Beckmann's study, combined with Strack's hoard analysis conclusively demonstrates that Faustina's coinage with the FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL reverse legend ceased in AD 157. The first coins to appear without the filiation on the reverse are types that reference childbirth: DIANA LVCIF and FECVNDITATI AVGVSTAE. [ATTACH=full]1348823[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman AR denarius, 2.83 g, 18 mm, 6 h.Rome, AD 157.Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.Rev: DIANA LVCIF, Diana standing left, holding long transverse lighted torch with both hands.Refs: RIC 674; BMCRE 87-88; Cohen 85; Strack 520b; RCV 5250; MIR 7-4/10a; CRE 174.</blockquote> [ATTACH=full]1348824[/ATTACH]<blockquote>Aureus (RIC 679), ANS collection (<a href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1958.223.10" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1958.223.10" rel="nofollow">1958.223.10</a>), depicting Faustina as Fecunditas holding an infant boy (nude, therefore male) with two girls standing alongside her.</blockquote> By 157, Faustina had previously delivered four children: Domitia Faustina, born 30 November 147, Lucilla, born 7 March 149, Faustina III, born 150/151, and T. Aelius Antoninus, born 152. However, Domitia Faustina died some time in AD 150 or 151, and T. Aelius Antoninus died in infancy or early childhood. Therefore, at the beginning of AD 157, only Lucilla and Faustina III were still alive. The appearance of the Diana Lucifera and Fecunditas reverse types coincides with and illustrates the addition of a male heir (T. Aelius Aurelius?) to the family in late 157.[9] Beckmann comments that as a result of the birth of a male heir, "Faustina was no longer presented as the daughter of Antoninus Pius, but rather simply as 'Faustina Augusta;' this marked a significant development in the public image of the empress."[10] Relative Chronology Were the hybrid denarius pairing the antecedent FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL obverse type with the AVGVSTI PII FIL/Venus Victrix reverse type (RSC 15b) a genuine error produced by the mint in Rome, it would establish the Venus Victrix reverse type as the earliest in the series. However, the coin is plated[11] and almost certainly an ancient fourrée counterfeit. Therefore, it is of no value in establishing a relative chronology for the series. Beckmann's die study demonstrates that obverse dies used with the Diana standing with bow reverse type were also used for the subsequent DIANA LVCIF and FECVNDITATI AVGVSTAE reverse types.[12] While this might suggest the Diana reverse type was the last of the series to be minted, Beckmann only studied the aurei. As noted above, the Diana reverse type is the only one in the series that appears in gold, so it is of little value in establishing a relative chronology for the other reverse types in the series. A relative chronology therefore remains elusive. ~~~ Notes 1. Because all coins bear AVGVSTI PII FIL on the reverse. 2. Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968, p. xciii. 3. Mattingly, Harold, op cit., p. xliv. Elsewhere, Mattingly and Sydenham note, "A recent find of Roman gold in Egypt suggests that the omission of this title [AVGVSTI PII FIL] dates from not later than AD 156-157." See Mattingly, Harold and Sydenham, Edward A. The Roman imperial coinage, vol. 3: Antoninus Pius to Commodus, London, Spink, 1986, p. 3, n. 3. 4. As noted by Dinsdale, Paul H. Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161. Leeds, Paul H Dinsdale, 2018, p. 340 and Dinsdale, Paul H. The Reign of Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus and Commodus AD 161-180. Leeds, Paul H Dinsdale, 2018, p. 50. 5. Sear, David R. Roman Coins and Their Values II: The accession of Nerva to the overthrow of the Severan dynasty AD 96 - AD 235, London, Spink, 2002, p. 285. 6. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 50-53. 7. Strack, Paul L., Untersuchungen zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts, vol. 3, Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. Stuttgart 1937, p. 18. 8. Beckmann, op. cit., p. 52-53. 9. See my summary of Faustina's pregnancies <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-ii-with-one-child-with-2-3-4-6-children-plus-other-empresses-with-children.384702/page-2#post-7819743" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-ii-with-one-child-with-2-3-4-6-children-plus-other-empresses-with-children.384702/page-2#post-7819743">here</a>. It is based on the work of Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 115-117. 10. Beckmann, op cit., p. 53. 11. BMCRE p.164† and RSC 15a, p. 189, each citing the plated denarius in the T.O. Mabbott collection as described in Frankfurter Münzzeitung, February 1933, p.28. 12. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 51-52.[/QUOTE]

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