Post anything you feel is relevant, of course! This is an interesting coin because it seems to be underrepresented in the standard references and there seems to be two variations of this particular coin to boot. It is not in RIC or Sear. I have no reason to think the coin is of great value, but I enjoyed researching more about this one. Faustina Jr, under Antoninus Pius, 147-161 Roman orichalcum dupondius; 11.60 gm, 25.5 mm, 2 h Rome, AD 152-153 Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right Rev: VENVS S C, Venus standing left, holding apple and leaning elbow against a column Refs: RIC --; BMC p. 856 *; Cohen 271; RCV -- It is listed as common in Cohen, as #271: There are other examples of the coin online, however. The BMC obtained a specimen for their collection in 1959. I believe my coin is an obverse die match, but not a reverse die match, to this coin: BMC specimen, 13 g And this one was sold by ArtCoins Roma, Auction 7, lot 651, May 2013 and is shown at Wildwinds: Described as an As, 25 mm, 11.70 g It is not a die match to either my coin nor the BMC specimen. But then there is this interesting variation of the column on the reverse, with a very thick column. There are two specimens online at acsearchinfo, both struck from the same dies. I believe they are an obverse die match to my coin and the BMC specimen: Auktionen Meister & Sonntag, Auction 16, November 27, 2012, lot 1071: Described as an As, 12.42 g And this specimen from Auktionshaus H. D. Rauch GmbH, Mail bid sale 11, Sept 12, 2006, lot 827. 11.60 g Now I am very curious whether the Cohen specimen depicts the thin column (like my coin and the BMC specimen) or the thick column.
Interesting write-up, Roman Collector. I really like Faustina II's coins and appreciate the attention you pay to the variations. Keep up the good work. The ones in your post remind me of a Faustina II dupondius (or as?) I picked up last year at my local coin shop (but Felicitas, not Venus): Faustina the Younger Wife of Marcus Aurelius (c. 147-175 A.D.) Rome Mint - Æ Dupondius FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust right / FELICITAS SC,, Felicitas standing left with caduceus, left hand on hip. Cohen 108; RIC (Pius) 1395 (10.10 grams / 25 mm)
Put 'em together and we got a pretty nice coin! Speaking of Faustina II, I recently got 2 different TEMPOR FELIC sestertii, one with a stephane, one with pearls (you helped me see the difference on these on another post a while back - I have learned to look closer at the hair style/decorations). I am keeping an eye on the green stuff on the right hand example - it seems very hard and non-BDish, but I'll keep watching.
Update: I found another example of the VENVS middle bronze, but with an earlier portrait of Faustina with a different hairstyle. Moreover, it was struck with completely different dies from any of these noted above. I don't own the coin, but saw it in an old Pegasi catalog, from Buy or Bid sale 132, January 25, 2005: Another cool thing about this coin is that it is a "coin of British association," discussed in this fascinating thread by @Marsyas Mike .
