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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 8122812, member: 75937&quot;]That&#039;s a scarce and much desired denarius of Faustina I. We know with near certainty from Beckmann&#039;s die study of the aurei of Faustina I that it was issued in AD 145 as part of a commemoration of Faustina II&#039;s marriage to Marcus Aurelius.* ALL interpretations of the coin&#039;s iconography need to be taken in that light.</p><p><br /></p><p>The children depicted on the coin are, of course, anonymous orphan girls, the beneficiaries of the <i>congiarium</i> that was part of the wedding ceremony.</p><p><br /></p><p>The other coin of this series, the corresponding aureus (BMCRE <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0607-199" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1912-0607-199" rel="nofollow">324</a>), depicts numerous such children.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414354[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>There is no reason to believe that the adult figures holding up the children on the reverse of the denarius represent members of the imperial family. Beckmann suggests they may be merely anonymous attendants who aided in performing the ceremony.</p><p><br /></p><p>*Beckmann, Martin. <i>Diva Faustina: Coinage and Cult in Rome and the Provinces.</i> American Numismatic Society, 2012, pp. 53-55.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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