Faustina Friday – Recreating Sulzer’s Collection of Faustina the Elder, Part 1

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead. Today, I'm going to discuss the catalog of Johann Sulzer's collection and illustrate its contents with coins from my own collection whenever possible and with museum specimens or auction listings otherwise. This catalog is that of a single collection, assembled by Swiss physician, mineral collector and numismatist, Johann Kaspar Sulzer (17 June 1716 - 10 April 1799). Sulzer ultimately offered them for sale and had a detailed catalog printed for this purpose in 1777.[1] For a long time no buyer was found, until finally, on March 22, 1793, Duke Ernst II paid 300 Ldr. to acquire the collection for the ducal cabinet on the Friedenstein.[2]

The catalog is written in Latin. It begins with Greek coins and its Roman section covers the period of the Republic through the reign of Tiberius II Constantine in the sixth century AD. It is arranged chronologically and by metal and coin sizes, corresponding roughly to denomination. The coins within each denomination are generally arranged alphabetically by reverse legend. The catalog's descriptions do not mention whether a portrait is right- or left-facing, nor do they distinguish between heads and busts.

Even though the catalog was produced to describe a collection that was for sale, no mention of any grades, condition, toning, or patina is given for any of the coins, nor is there any comment about the rarity of any of the specimens in the collection. This strikes the modern collector who is used to such descriptions as odd.

The collection contains next to no gold issues. The coins are numbered for ease of reference. There are duplicates of some specimens; these are given separate numbers. In terms of metallic composition, the standard abbreviations, AR for silver and AE for bronze, are used. The diameter of a coin is noted by means of a Greek letter, corresponding to a chart in the introductory material.

Sulzer's coin gauge. The diameters of the coins are noted by means of a Greek letter. The smallest coins are assigned the letter A and the largest, the letter K.

In silver, denarii generally fall in the gamma (Γ) size range and antoniniani in the gamma (Γ) or delta (Δ) size range. In bronze, sestertii fall generally in the zeta (Z) size range, with the middle bronze denominations falling in the delta (Δ) to epsilon (E) range.

This is easier seen than described, and you'll get the hang of its arrangement quickly. You'll note that Sulzer does not separate the lifetime and posthumous issues of Faustina the Elder. Moreover, he makes no attempt to identify the various goddesses that appear on the reverses of the AVGVSTA and AETERNITAS series, describing the deities simply as "figura muliebris" (female figure). Over the course of the next few weeks, I will post the relevant pages of the catalog, followed by a list of photographs and descriptions in English corresponding to the Sulzer catalog numbers. Here is the first page (plus one entry) of coins of Faustina the Elder in the collection.

Pages 156 and 157 of the catalog of Sulzer’s collection.

Sulzer #1285:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.31 g, 18.7 mm, 6 h.
Rome, 140 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno, veiled, standing l., holding patera and scepter; at feet left, peacock.
Refs: RIC 338; BMCRE 136-137; Cohen/RSC 215; RCV 4669; UCR 342; Strack 403; CRE 100.

Sulzer #1286-87:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 18.6 mm, 1 h.
Rome, 150 CE or later.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS, Female figure (Aeternitas? Juno?) veiled and draped, standing facing, head left, raising right hand and holding scepter in left hand.
Refs: RIC 344; BMCRE 351; Cohen/RSC 26; RCV 4574; Strack 448; CRE 103.

Sulzer #1288-90:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.33 g, 17.8 mm, 5 h.
Rome, 150 CE or later.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS, Aeternitas, draped, standing left, holding phoenix on extended right hand and raising fold of skirt with left hand.
Refs: RIC 347; BMCRE 354-57; Cohen/RSC 11; Strack 446; RCV 4576; CRE 70.
Notes: The phoenix is often depicted nimbate and occasionally standing on a globe.

Sulzer #1291-95:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.26 g, 18.4 mm, 5 h.
Rome, 150 CE or later.
Obv: DIVA FAV-STINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS, Providentia standing left, holding globe and grasping veil which billows behind her.
Refs: RIC 351; BMCRE 373-381; Cohen/RSC 32; Strack 447; RCV 4578; CRE 121.
Notes: This coin was also issued with a veiled bust; Sulzer does not distinguish between bust types and it’s possible that at least one of the five specimens he had of this reverse type had a veiled bust.

Sulzer #1296:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius; 3.83 g, 18.2 mm, 5 h.
Rome, 150 CE or later.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AETERNITAS, Fortuna standing left, holding globe and rudder.
Refs: RIC 348; BMCRE 360; Cohen/RSC 6; RCV 4577; Strack 451; CRE 96.
Note: Overstruck on previous issue, perhaps a CONCORDIA seated issue of Sabina. This coin was also issued with a veiled bust.

Sulzer #1297-98:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.69 g, 18.2 mm, 7 h.
Rome, 145-147 CE.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA, Ceres, veiled and draped, standing left, holding two corn-ears in right hand and torch in left hand.
Refs: RIC 360a; BMCRE 408-414; Cohen/RSC 78; RCV 4582; Strack 474; CRE 76.

Sulzer #1299:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.40 g, 19.7 mm, 5 h.
Rome, 145-147 CE.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA, Ceres, veiled and draped, standing left, holding short torch and short vertical scepter.
Refs: RIC 356; BMCRE 399; Cohen/RSC 96; RCV –; Strack 469; CRE 82.

Sulzer #1300 (misdescribed reverse legend):

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius; 3.83 g, 18.2 mm.
Rome, 150 CE or later.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VESTA, Vesta standing, left, holding palladium and scepter.
Refs: RIC 400; BMCRE 485; Cohen/RSC 291; RCV 4601; Strack 463; CRE 152.
Notes: Sulzer’s catalog describes the reverse as “Figures standing with right hand holding a winged (figure) and left hand a scepter.” The only denarius with anything resembling this reverse design features the legend VESTA. I suspect the coin was worn or off-center and Sulzer mistook VESTA for AVGVSTA.

Sulzer #1301:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.55 g, 17.2 mm, 5 h.
Rome, 145-147 CE.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA, Vesta-Pietas standing Ieft, sacrificing from patera over altar and holding palladium.
Refs: RIC 360; BMCRE 440-42; Cohen/RSC 116; RCV –; Strack 481; CRE 154.

Sulzer #1302:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius; 3.31 g, 18.0 mm, 11 h.
Rome, 160-161 CE.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: CERES, Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears and long torch.
Refs: RIC 378a; BMCRE 461-463; Cohen/RSC 136; RCV 4591; Strack 456; CRE 77.

Sulzer #1303:

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius; 3.73 g, 16.7 mm, 11 h.
Rome, 140-143 CE.
Obv: DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, draped bust right.
Rev: CONCORDIA, Antoninus standing right, holding scroll, clasping right hands with Faustina I, standing left, holding scepter.
Refs: RIC 381ba; BMCRE 298-300; Cohen/RSC 159; RCV 4592; Strack 422; CRE 71.

Next week, we will continue with page 158 of the catalog of Sulzer's collection.

In the meantime, feel free to post any comments, coins, or anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes

1. Sulzer, Johann Caspar, and Jacob Sulzer. Numophylacium Sulzerianum numos antiquos Graecos et Romanos aureos argenteos aereos sis tens olim Iacobi Sulzeri. Ettinger, 1777. Available online here.

2. “Sulzer, Johann Kaspar.” Deutsche Biographie, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 8 Jan. 2023, https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz81979.html

Edited January 15, 2023 by Roman Collector
New photos!

[Spaniard]

@Roman Collector...

What a lovely old catalogue!..Great coins too!

Really interesting how Sulzer recorded his collection..

I have ...Sulzer #1285:...Not as nice as yours though...

And Sulzer #1291-95:

Were there bronzes in the collection too?

 

[Roman Collector]

46 minutes ago, Spaniard said:

Were there bronzes in the collection too?

Thank you for the kind words! Nice examples of those coins. You bet there were bronzes in the collection! We'll get to them in a few weeks!

[arizonarobin]

Thank you for another Faustina Friday. What a fun idea to match the coins to the catalogue. I will be looking forward to the future pages!

I do not have any of the 1285-1296 coins 😐 the only Aeternitas of Faustina Senior I have are the eight rayed star and throne and peacock. 

Sulzer #1297-98:

Sulzer #1299(ish) 😄

 

 

Sulzer #1303:

 

[Dafydd]

I thought I would like to contribute my first post to Faustina Friday although slightly off theme. I have yet to photograph my denarius.

What a great post @Roman Collector and great coins everyone.

139 AD. Rome mint. Obv: FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG [PII P P] legend with draped bust right. Rev: [IVNONI] REGINAE legend with Juna standing front, head left, holding patera and sceptre; S-C in fields. RIC 1077a; BMC 1116; Sear 4675.25.82 grams total. ("). From the estate of a Cambridge University academic.

Ex-Timeline Auctions March 2021.