Post anything you feel is relevant! Despite having 25 denarii of Faustina II, I didn't have this particular one. So, when the opportunity to buy it at a reasonable price came with the latest Frank Robinson mailbid sale, I snapped it up. It comes in two varieties, distinguished by bust type. A bare-headed bust (which I've had in my collection for some time): Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-176 Roman AR denarius; 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12 h Rome, AD 161 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 190; RCV 5260 var. (no diadem); CRE 221. And with a diademed bust (my latest Faustina II): Faustina Junior, Augusta AD 147-176 Roman AR denarius; 3.36 g, 17.1 mm, 6 h Rome, AD 161 Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust, right 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.
Nice, now I'm starting to get a little anxious for mine to arrive. Here is a Faustina Jr just to keep with the OP
Nice Faustinas, Roman Collector. I will add my super-duper rare "headless baby" variation of the type:
Mine is a finely circulated from @Brian Bucklan ! I love it! RI Faustina Jr 161-175 CE Ar Denarius m Marcus Aurelius 17-1mm 3g
25 eh?.. i'm bidding a couple of her now, but as of yet i've not got one.. of course i didn't start collecting the ladies(i had Faustina l and Fausta) till midterm last year..i'd like to have one with the siblings on the reverse, but that remains to be seen..that's a nice one RC
The two obverses have different break patterns for the inscription. Continuous without stephane, and broken around it when present. Another point of distinction on this reverse type is the "roving" dot between the boys, which I take for a centration artifact. But it is not consistently present. In your two examples, RC, the dot is present in the coin which has a stephane on the obverse and absent for the other. My pair is just the opposite: Any thoughts on that, RC? Marsyas Mike, that dot on your coin looks like it could be the missing head. How gross is that?
Such a lovely young lady. I have always appreciated Roman portraiture, and when one visits some of the various museums around the world it is really a thrill to recognize those faces from our coins (that can of course be a HUGE separate thread):
Here's an interesting Diva type Ae As for Faustina Jr that passed through my hands some years ago: Diva Faustina Junior (died AD 175/6) Ae As ; Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius Obv: Draped bust right Rev: Crescent and seven stars, SC below
That dot on the reverse in the geometric center of the design is surely caused by the point of the compass used to lay out the design.
Actually, when you scan the group of these in this thread, you will observe that more often the dot is centered in the flan but not always in the design. It drifts between the boys. I managed to land one of the astral denarii not long ago. The most common interpretation I have heard for the number of stars correlates them with the number of the planets. However, I think it is more probable that the entire image relates to the lunar cycle, with seven nights per quarter, giving rise to the seven days of the week.
