It's not the best-looking coin. Sure, its emerald patina is pleasing, but its surfaces are somewhat rough and the coin grades aVF/F at best. I collect Faustina II and her mom. What made my eyes pop and my heart race when I saw this one? Roman AE as of Faustina II, 8.54 g, 24.4 mm, 6 h. Post any examples of coins you appreciated but the dealer didn't.
Who's that on the reverse, and what's she holding? I think I can make out the last bits of the reverse legend (AVGVSTA?), but am otherwise clueless. The reverse personification intrigues me a bit.
Very cool reverse! Faustina the Younger holding 2 infants and standing between 2 children. The SC is also readable.
That is indeed Faustina as Fecunditas standing between two children and holding two others. And that's a pretty good reason to buy such a coin, but it's not what makes that particular coin special. You see, I have this one, too ... Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman oricalchum dupondius, 12.45 gm, 27.1 mm, 12 h. Rome, AD 157-161. 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 Commodus and Antoninus). Refs: RIC 1636; BMCRE 977-979; Cohen 97; RCV 5294. Notes: Ex-Henry Chapman, 1921. It differs from the OP coin in a number of ways. It's considerably heavier, and it's probably a dupondius, whereas the OP coin is most likely an as. Its die-axis is 12:00, whereas on the OP coin, the die-axis is 6:00. And I suppose that's reason enough to get the OP coin. But that's not what makes the OP coin special. Look carefully at the reverses of the two coins, side by side ... Yes, they are mirror-images of each other. The OP coin has Fecunditas standing RIGHT. The RIC listing makes mention of sestertii bearing the right-facing Fecunditas on the reverse, but not middle bronzes ... Cohen also lists sestertii with this reverse, but not middle bronzes. Sear, similarly, notes no middle bronzes with this reverse type. But the BMCRE4 listing does -- as a footnote: The footnote reads, "Variant of rev., Fecunditas standing r., Vatican Coll." Strack,* discussing the sestertii of this issue, similarly notes, "Fecunditas standing R sestertius in Paris; middle bronzes in Vatican, Munich, Stuttgart, Bologna, Gotha + Basel." So, the OP coin is known to exist, but since I purchased it sometime before 2004 (when my computer crashed and I lost all my provenance data that wasn't hand-written on the flips), I haven't seen another come up for sale or elsewhere online. I have been unable to find this variety at acsearchinfo, at the OCRE, Wildwinds, The Coin Project, or the CNG Archives. If you know of another example online, please post the image and the link; I'd love to see if mine is a die match to it. So, that's what makes the OP special! *Paul L. Strack, Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts. Teil iii. Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1937.
Cool sleuthing RC. Your research at least gives me hope that my Faustina Jr Denarius may be official after all as it is also mentioned in a footnote by Mattingly in BMCRE. He also referenced P.L.Strack in that footnote but gave no specific location within that work. Just like you, I am waiting for another 1 to appear. Nearly forgot, nice coin.
Very interesting, thanks for posting that. I fully intend to own a copy of this type at some point, although I doubt it will be 'standing right'! I find it rather tragic to consider that she was indeed fecund, but that so many of their children died. If even an Emperor can lose so many children, it is no wonder that the Stoics recommended whispering to yourself that you were kissing a mortal whenever you kissed your child.