New Faustina Senior Sestertius

[Julius Germanicus]

After selling most of my collection last year I have only recently started to buy some new coins, but on a much smaller scale and concentrating not on my old goal of finding one Sestertius of each and every Augustus, Caesar and Empress available (which got a little out of hand and expensive to achieve maximum completeness) , but on what brought me to the hobby on the first place:

Big Sestertii in their original yellow Orichalcum colour with neat portraits 🙂

DIVA FAVSTINA - Bust of Faustina the Elder right, wearing paludamentum and tutulus of pearls

AETERNITAS  S C - Aeternitas standing facing, head left, extending right hand and holding long sceptre in left

Sestertius, Rome after 147 A.D.

32 mm / 25,84 gr

RIC (Antoninus Pius) 1102; BMCRE 1480; Cohen 28; Sear 4605; Banti 14 (16 specimens)

 

I hope you like it and maybe the expert(s) here can help me a little with the exact dating of this coin, let me know if this is really Juno on the reverse, or add anything interesting.

Please share you Sestertii of Faustina Senior!

 

 

[ambr0zie]

Very nice sestertius and very nice goal. And yes, on some characters it would be very difficult to acquire coins (especially if you want to keep the same level of condition). Great portrait on your coin and the orichalcum color is spectacular. 

Regarding your questions - dating - OCRE states it is struck in 141 but I am not sure if this is correct. @Roman Collector might shed some light. 
The reverse deity is listed as Juno with a question mark in RIC 

Without being a specialist, I doubt it (again @Roman Collector is qualified to confirm) - again as a personal note, I doubt it's Juno, as all the imperial coins with Juno I can think of depict this deity with a patera and most of them also with a peacock. Just the sceptre as the attribute - I am not sure, but I doubt it's Juno. 

Here is my only Faustina sestertius, also bought because I really like this coin. Mine also has a spectacular color - but green. Dating (I think this was suggested by the same Faustina specialist) is 155-161. I suspect your coin has similar dating as they are close in RIC. 

32,15 mm, 26,39 g.
Diva Faustina I. Died 140-141. Ӕ sestertius. Rome. 155-161.
DIVA FAVSTINA, bust of Faustina I, draped, right, hair elaborately waved and coiled in bands across head and drawn up at back and piled in a round coil on top / AETERNITAS SC, Aeternitas standing left, holding phoenix on globe and lifting fold of skirt.
RIC III Antoninus Pius 1105a; BMC 1490; RCV 4607; Cohen 12.

[Roman Collector]

That's a lovely coin, @Julius Germanicus! I like the reverse detail, too. Here's the specimen in my collection. I like a dark green patina.

The identity of many of the figures on the reverses of the AETERNITAS and AVGVSTA types are not clear and we are forced to rely upon the attributes borne by the individual figures to determine whom they represent. In this particular case, the figure has been identified as "Juno(?)" by RIC, as "Juno" by BMCRE, "Aeternitas (or Juno)" by Cohen, "Aeternitas" by Strack, and "Juno" by David Sear. But the deities assigned by these various references are not based upon a comprehensive study of the attributes of Aeternitas or Juno.

Such a study of the Antonine coinage reveals that there are four main attributes that appear ONLY on coins with the legend AETERNITAS, and can therefore be said to be determinative of the personification of Aeternitas. These are the Phoenix, the large circular hoop of the Zodiac, the large starry globe on which the figure is seated, and the starry veil billowing around head of the figure. In the absence of any of these four attributes, identifying the reverse figure on this coin as Aeternitas is untenable.

On coins of Faustina I with the rev. legend IVNO or IVNONI REGINAE, Juno is usually portrayed holding an outstretched patera and scepter. Neither attribute by itself is determinative of type, and either may appear in combination with other attributes (such as a peacock), and the two attributes together can be taken to indicate that it is Juno who is being depicted. The related figure raising an empty right hand, instead of a patera, and holding a scepter is also best seen as representing Juno. Therefore, I concur with Mattingly (BMCRE) and Sear (RCV) in calling the figure "Juno."

The AETERNITAS coins paired with the DIVA FAVSTINA legend were issued in 150 CE (and possibly a few years after) as part of the 10th death anniversary celebrations for Faustina.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Roman Collector
Adding dating information

[CPK]

A wonderfully expressive portrait!

[Julius Germanicus]

17 hours ago, ambr0zie said:

Very nice sestertius and very nice goal. And yes, on some characters it would be very difficult to acquire coins (especially if you want to keep the same level of condition). Great portrait on your coin and the orichalcum color is spectacular. 

Regarding your questions - dating - OCRE states it is struck in 141 but I am not sure if this is correct. @Roman Collector might shed some light. 
The reverse deity is listed as Juno with a question mark in RIC 

Without being a specialist, I doubt it (again @Roman Collector is qualified to confirm) - again as a personal note, I doubt it's Juno, as all the imperial coins with Juno I can think of depict this deity with a patera and most of them also with a peacock. Just the sceptre as the attribute - I am not sure, but I doubt it's Juno. 

Here is my only Faustina sestertius, also bought because I really like this coin. Mine also has a spectacular color - but green. Dating (I think this was suggested by the same Faustina specialist) is 155-161. I suspect your coin has similar dating as they are close in RIC. 

32,15 mm, 26,39 g.
Diva Faustina I. Died 140-141. Ӕ sestertius. Rome. 155-161.
DIVA FAVSTINA, bust of Faustina I, draped, right, hair elaborately waved and coiled in bands across head and drawn up at back and piled in a round coil on top / AETERNITAS SC, Aeternitas standing left, holding phoenix on globe and lifting fold of skirt.
RIC III Antoninus Pius 1105a; BMC 1490; RCV 4607; Cohen 12.

Thank you so much! And that is a beautiful green Faustina!

[happy_collector]

A nice big coin with great portrait, @Julius Germanicus. Thanks for sharing.

I don't have one with Aeternitas on the reverse design, but a Vesta instead. 

Diva Faustina Sestertius
Obv: DIVA-FAVSTINA Draped bust of Faustina right.
Rev: AVGVSTA / S - C Veiled Vesta standing left, leaning with right hand on flaming torch
30mm, 24.95g
N&N London auction. January 2023.

Edited November 30, 2023 by happy_collector

[Julius Germanicus]

12 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

That's a lovely coin, @Julius Germanicus! I like the reverse detail, too. Here's the specimen in my collection. I like a dark green patina.

The identity of many of the figures on the reverses of the AETERNITAS and AVGVSTA types are not clear and we are forced to rely upon the attributes borne by the individual figures to determine whom they represent. In this particular case, the figure has been identified as "Juno(?)" by RIC, as "Juno" by BMCRE, "Aeternitas (or Juno)" by Cohen, "Aeternitas" by Strack, and "Juno" by David Sear. But the deities assigned by these various references are not based upon a comprehensive study of the attributes of Aeternitas or Juno.

Such a study of the Antonine coinage reveals that there are four main attributes that appear ONLY on coins with the legend AETERNITAS, and can therefore be said to be determinative of the personification of Aeternitas. These are the Phoenix, the large circular hoop of the Zodiac, the large starry globe on which the figure is seated, and the starry veil billowing around head of the figure. In the absence of any of these four attributes, identifying the reverse figure on this coin as Aeternitas is untenable.

On coins of Faustina I with the rev. legend IVNO or IVNONI REGINAE, Juno is usually portrayed holding an outstretched patera and scepter. Neither attribute by itself is determinative of type, and either may appear in combination with other attributes (such as a peacock), and the two attributes together can be taken to indicate that it is Juno who is being depicted. The related figure raising an empty right hand, instead of a patera, and holding a scepter is also best seen as representing Juno. Therefore, I concur with Mattingly (BMCRE) and Sear (RCV) in calling the figure "Juno."

The AETERNITAS coins paired with the DIVA FAVSTINA legend were issued in 150 CE (and possibly a few years after) as part of the 10th death anniversary celebrations for Faustina.

Thank you very much for the dating and expertise!

I just found another view of the Aeternitas / Juno question:

Franziska Schmidt-Dick in Vol.1 of her „Typenatlas der römischen Reichsprägung von Augustus bis Aemilianus“ (Vienna, 2002, my translation into English):

“AETERNITAS appears as a personification (numen) on coins from Vespasianus onwards. Most of the time, Aeternitas is related to the divinization of a female member of the imperial family. Especially on the occasion of the Consecratio of Faustina the Elder, a rich variety of types sets in, which often evades clear interpretation, since many depictions show aspects of other numina such as Ceres, Diana, Fortuna, Juno, Luna, Mater castrorum, Pietas, Providentia, Pudicitia, Spes, or Vesta."

She then lists no less than 50 varieties of AETERNITAS on the coinage, with our type, RIC 1102, being

" AETERNITAS  f1E/02:

Diadem, veil, tunic, palla (sinus), right hand raised, left (lowered) holding scepter across (in the right field); referred to in the literature as Juno, but according to Strack 1937, 103 it is Aeternitas because of the raised hand; for the position of the scepter, compare some depictions of the genius."

The only AETERNITAS variety she lists as depicting Juno is restricted to Aurei, Dupondii and Asses:

“AETERNITAS type f1A/07 = IUNO f1A/3:

Diadem, tunica, palla (sinus), right hand raised, left hand (lowered) holds scepter slightly at an angle (does not touch the ground)

No explanatory legend, interpretation questionable.”

 

My Aeternitas is veiled indeed but I am not sure on how to interpret the position of the sceptre.

 

[Roman Collector]

3 hours ago, happy_collector said:

A nice big coin with great portrait, @Julius Germanicus. Thanks for sharing.

I don't have one with Aeternitas on the reverse design, but a Vesta instead. 

Diva Faustina Sestertius
Obv: DIVA-FAVSTINA Draped bust of Faustina right.
Rev: AVGVSTA / S - C Veiled Vesta standing left, leaning with right hand on flaming torch
30mm, 24.95g
N&N London auction. January 2023.

Reverse is Ceres with short torch and grain ears.

[happy_collector]

3 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

Reverse is Ceres with short torch and grain ears.

Thanks, @Roman Collector. I'll update my coin label. 

[Roman Collector]

4 hours ago, happy_collector said:

Thanks, @Roman Collector. I'll update my coin label. 

Here's the corresponding dupondius in my collection (I don't have the sestertius):

[Julius Germanicus]

On 11/30/2023 at 4:37 AM, CPK said:

A wonderfully expressive portrait!

Thanks! 
I must say that in terms of portrait style I did not find a single Sestertius of Faustina I on AC Search or VCoins that I would prefer over this one ☺️. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Julius Germanicus