Faustina Friday – An Anepigraphic Denarius Issued for Faustina the Elder

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, friends and fellow Faustina fanatics! I hope this installment of Faustina Friday finds you full of numismatic fervor! Today we'll discuss a series of anepigraphic coins likely issued 143-145 CE to commemorate the dedication of the Temple to Diva Faustina in Rome. Among the various types stuck during this period was a series of gold and silver coins issued with anepigraphic reverse types. As with all coins issued from the time of Faustina the Elder's death in November, 140 through 145 CE, the coins bear the longer DIVA AVG FAVSTINA obverse inscription, the shorter DIVA FAVSTINA inscription being used thereafter. This is the only anepigraphic reverse type issued in the denarius denomination. The series also includes two aurei (RIC 405 and 406A), depicting Faustina climbing into a biga and a hexastyle temple, respectively, two gold quinarii (RIC 407 and Strack 440), depicting a peacock walking right and a throne, respectively, and a silver quinarius (Strack 440), with the same throne reverse type. Except for the silver denarius type in my collection, all these other types are exceedingly rare.

The denarius type was issued with two bust varieties: a bare-headed portrait and a veiled and stephaned portrait. The veiled and stephaned version is the scarcer of the two, but not unobtainable for the average collector. The reverse features a veiled and draped Ceres standing right and holding a vertical scepter in her right hand and two corn-ears in her left.

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.74 g, 17.6 mm, 7 h.
Rome, 143-145 CE.
Obv: DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: Anepigraphic; Ceres, veiled and draped, standing right, holding vertical scepter in right hand and two corn-ears in left hand.
Refs: RIC 404B; BMCRE 327; Cohen 297; Strack 436; RCV 4602; CRE 79.
Notes: Double die-match to the specimen in the Museu Arqueològic de Llíria.

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.74 g, 17.6 mm, 7 h.
Rome, 143-145 CE.
Obv: DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, veiled, draped, and stephaned bust, right.
Rev: Anepigraphic; Ceres, veiled and draped, standing right, holding vertical scepter in right hand and two corn-ears in left hand.
Refs: RIC –; BMCRE 328 corr.; RSC 297b; Strack –; RCV –; CRE 80.
Notes: BMC erroneously describes the bust type as veiled, omitting the stephane. This coin is an obverse die match to the British Museum specimen. Ex- @curtislclay collection; ex-Lanz eBay 9 September 2016. Curtis's handwritten collector tag notes "probably plated but of official style."

Post anything you feel is relevant!

[seth77]

The veiled spec is the epitome of elegant coin design

[ominus1]

5 hours ago, seth77 said:

The veiled spec is the epitome of elegant coin design

i concur but it seems RC has the lot of them   ^^

[akeady]

I've got one too 😄

[Roman Collector]

Update! I had the opportunity to upgrade my veiled and stephaned bust variety to this one, which had previously been sold in 2009 at Gorny & Mosch.

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.39 g, 17.7 mm, 7 h.
Rome, 143-145 CE.
Obv: DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, veiled, draped, and stephaned bust, right.
Rev: Anepigraphic; Ceres, veiled and draped, standing right, holding vertical scepter in right hand and two corn-ears in left hand.
Refs: RIC –; BMCRE 328 corr.; RSC 297b; Strack –; RCV –; CRE 80.
Notes: BMC erroneously describes the bust type as veiled, omitting the stephane. This coin is an obverse die match to the British Museum specimen. Ex-Victor Wishnevsky; ex-Gorny & Mosch Auction 181, lot 2211, 13 October 2009. 

It happens to be a reverse die-match to the bare-headed bust type I have in my collection, proving simultaneous mintage of the veiled and bare-headed varieties.