Faustina Friday – Flyspecking the Frisur Reveals a Case of Tooling

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! Today we're going to do some flyspecking. We're going to examine a new addition to my numophylacium, this middle bronze of Faustina the Younger with a stephaned bust. All coins illustrated are from my own collection unless noted otherwise.

Faustina II, 147-175.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 12.97 g, 26.6 mm, 12 h.
Rome, late AD 162 – early 163.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: FECVNDITAS SC, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant.
Refs: RIC 1639; BMCRE 980 n.; Cohen101; RCV –; MIR 9-7/10a diad.; TNRB 4 (Kremsmünster) 757.

The Beckmann Type 7 Hairstyle

The casual collector of Roman coins pays little heed to the various hairstyles depicted on the coins of Faustina the Younger, but in some cases, attention to detail pays off. This coin illustrated above depicts Faustina in the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle, which first makes its appearance with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE issue of late AD 161, shortly after the birth of her twins on 31 August.[1] The Type 8 hairstyle was introduced simultaneously and was used concurrently with the Type 7 style and is very similar in appearance.[2] Types 7 and 8 both show a large, prominent wave of hair, marked with a single wavy engraved line on the empress's brow, which is gathered into a bun at the back of the head. It is this prominent brow wave to which Cohen refers when he writes "les cheveux ondés" in his descriptions of coins with these hairstyles.[3] However, on the Type 7 hairstyle, the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and back, toward the bun, whereas on the Type 8 hairstyle, the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and forward, toward Faustina's ear.

This denarius (RIC 700) demonstrates the Type 7 hairstyle. Note the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and back, toward the chignon at the nape of her neck.

This aureus (RIC 699, Münzkabinett Berlin) demonstrates the Type 8 hairstyle. Note the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and forward, toward the empress's ear.

Although the Type 9 hairstyle was also introduced at this time, I shall not discuss it because it is not relevant to the coin at hand and because I have previously discussed that hairstyle elsewhere.

This hairstyle is exemplified by a sculptural portrait at the Museo della Terme in Rome, illustrated below.
 

Portrait head of Faustina Minor demonstrating the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle, AD 162, Museo Nazionale Romano - Museo Delle Terme, inv. 642; DAI-ROM-38.740.[4]

You'll note the presence on this sculpture of two parallel braids of hair just behind the prominent brow wave. This is diagrammed below.

Diagram of the hairstyle on DAI-ROM-38.740.[5]

These two braids of hair above and behind the brow wave on sculptural portraits are a source of confusion, not only for numismatists, but for the die-engravers at the mint. This feature of the hairstyle is most typically interpreted as indicating one or two strands of pearls, not as braids of hair.[6] Beckmann, on the other hand, consistently refers to them as a braid.[7] Coins occasionally do appear to illustrate braids of hair, such as this sestertius with the VENVS VICTRIX reverse type.

Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 27.25 g, 30.7 mm, 6 h.
Rome, c. AD 166.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Bust of Faustina II, draped, right (Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle).
Rev: VENVS VICTRIX S C, Venus standing facing, head left, holding Victory in extended right hand and resting left hand on shield set on helmet.
Refs: RIC 1688; BMCRE 960-65; Cohen 283; RCV 5288; MIR 40-6/10b.

But this feature may be absent, such as on this as featuring a "bare-headed" version of the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ As, 8.35 g, 25.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm-branch in right hand and cornucopia in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1643 var.; BMCRE 982 var.; Cohen 113 var.; RCV 5296; MIR 15-7/10b.
Notes: This coin is a variety of the RIC, BMCRE and Cohen specimens in that Faustina wears no strands of pearls in the hair.

Other coins appear to illustrate a single circlet of pearls around the empress's head, such as this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 2.78 g, 18.2 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 166-170.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina II, right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle, strand of pearls in hair.
Rev: IVNO, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 688; BMCRE 107, 108, 111; RSC 120a; RCV 5255; CRE 188.

While others appear to illustrate a double circlet of pearls around the empress's head, such as this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.4 mm, 11 h.
Rome, c. AD 162-164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right; double circlet of pearls around head (Beckmann type 7 hairstyle).
Rev: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter, peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 696; BMCRE 118-120.; RSC 139a; RCV 5256; MIR 19-4/10a,b; CRE 192.

Lastly, for most issues of AD 161-166, there are varieties with a stephaned bust, which is worn behind the brow wave, such as on the OP coin or this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.01 g, 19.6 mm, 1 h.
Rome, AD 166-170.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina II, right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle, wearing stephane.
Rev: IVNO, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 688 var. (stephane); BMCRE 109; RSC 120b; RCV 5255 var. (stephane); CRE 189.

So, Are They Braids or Pearls?

That's a hard question to answer, given the medium used for the portraits. It's easy to indicate braids on a life-size sculpture. It's much harder to indicate them on a tiny denarius portrait. It's possible that what appear to be pearls to us were a stylized way for engravers to indicate braided hair. However, I'm not convinced they must be braids. They look like pearls to me. All I can say is they are some sort of ornamentation which is occasionally absent, while at other times replaced by a stephane.

A Bit about the Type 8 Hairstyle

This hairstyle is not uncommon on the aurei of Faustina the Younger, but rarely found in other metals. I've never seen a denarius with this hairstyle, and I can recall seeing only a single bronze coin with this portrait type. The Type 8 hairstyle never appears with braids, pearls, or a stephane; it's always bare-headed. Beckmann oversimplifies when he states the absence of the braid is a distinguishing characteristic of the Type 8 hairstyle because there are a few examples of bare-headed Type 7 portraits. Rather, the sole distinguishing characteristic is the direction the hair flows behind the large brow wave. There are few sculptural representations of the empress with this hairstyle. Even though Fittschen notes the existence of three such portraits, as opposed to fifteen with the Type 7 coiffure,[8] Beckmann writes, "[F]or Type 8, which is rare in sculpture, it has not been possible to find a suitable image."[9]

But What Does This Have to Do with Tooling?

Well, one needs to be intimately familiar with the details of the Type 7 coiffure to see where this is going. The essential features of the style are the prominent brow wave, the downward and backward direction of the hair behind the brow wave, and the presence of braids/pearls or a stephane above and behind the brow wave. Brow wave. Les cheveux ondés. Got it? Good!

The OP coin is rare. An exhaustive search of online databases and print references identifies only three other specimens: one in Göttingen, one sold by Numismatik Naumann, and a third in Kremsmünster (cited by MIR). I have been unable to obtain an image of the Kremsmünster specimen for comparison, but my coin, the Göttingen and Naumann specimens are obverse die matches. I illustrate my coin again below for easy comparison with the others.

The specimen in my collection.

Compare my coin to this one sold by Naumann.

Numismatik Naumann, Auction 20, lot 673, 3 August 2014.

A careful comparison of the inscriptions and the relationship of the letters to the portrait as well as the outline of the portrait confirms they are obverse die-matches. But look at the hair detail on the portrait of the Naumann specimen. There is no prominent brow wave. Rather, hair detail consisting of shallow waves has been tooled in to give the appearance of a high-grade coin. Prior to being tooled, the coin was likely worn smooth, the prominent brow wave eroded by circulation wear. I suspect the figure of Fecunditas has been tooled as well. Before being tooled, the coin probably looked a grade higher than the Göttingen specimen, below.

Münzkabinett der Universität Göttingen (AN-0315)

Three of the four known specimens were struck with the same obverse die; I simply don't know about the fourth, because I haven't seen a photograph of it. It's quite likely that the coins of this reverse type and with the stephaned bust type were struck with a single obverse die. I'm happy to have obtained this coin for my collection. I hope that the high bidder on the Numismatic Naumann specimen was not deceived and paid an appropriately discounted price befitting of a tooled coin.

Let's see your coins with the Beckmann Type 7 (or 8 ) bust type! Feel free to post anything you feel is relevant.

~~~

Notes

1. See the beginning of Die Chain 7, Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 164.

2. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 58, 61, 86, 90.

3. See, for example, nos. 119 and 130 in Cohen, Henry. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Tome III: de Marc Aurèle à Albin (161 à 197 après J.-C.). Paris, 1883, pp. 146-147.

4. "Portraitkopf Der Faustina Minor Museo Nazionale Romano - Museo Delle Terme." Arachne, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1077060.

5. "Faustina Minor 8. Typus." Arachne, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1242456. Citing Fittschen, Klaus. Die Bildnistypen Der Faustina Minor Und Die Fecunditas Augustae. Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1982, p. 60 ff.

6. Described as pearls by Cohen, RIC, BMCRE, Strack, et al.

7. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 61, 86, 90, and elsewhere.

8. As summarized in Beckmann, op. cit. p. 98, Table 7.1.

9. Beckmann, op. cit., p. 88.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Roman Collector
Clarification

[shanxi]

Interesting write up, as always.

 

Here is a denarius with braided band instead of pearls

Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome
Obv.: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair bound with a braided band
Rev.: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno veiled, standing left, holding patera and sceptre; at her feet, a peacock.
Ag, 3.22g, 17mm
Ref.: RIC III 696 var., CRE 192 var. (hair bound with a braided band instead of pearls)

 

[Al Kowsky]

2 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! Today we're going to do some flyspecking. We're going to examine a new addition to my numophylacium, this middle bronze of Faustina the Younger with a stephaned bust. All coins illustrated are from my own collection unless noted otherwise.

Faustina II, 147-175.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 12.97 g, 26.6 mm, 12 h.
Rome, late AD 162 – early 163.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: FECVNDITAS SC, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant.
Refs: RIC 1639; BMCRE 980 n.; Cohen101; RCV –; MIR 9-7/10a diad.; TNRB 4 (Kremsmünster) 757.

The Beckmann Type 7 Hairstyle

The casual collector of Roman coins pays little heed to the various hairstyles depicted on the coins of Faustina the Younger, but in some cases, attention to detail pays off. This coin illustrated above depicts Faustina in the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle, which first makes its appearance with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE issue of late AD 161, shortly after the birth of her twins on 31 August.[1] The Type 8 hairstyle was introduced simultaneously and was used concurrently with the Type 7 style and is very similar in appearance.[2] Types 7 and 8 both show a large, prominent wave of hair, marked with a single wavy engraved line on the empress's brow, which is gathered into a bun at the back of the head. It is this prominent brow wave to which Cohen refers when he writes "les cheveux ondés" in his descriptions of coins with these hairstyles.[3] However, on the Type 7 hairstyle, the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and back, toward the bun, whereas on the Type 8 hairstyle, the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and forward, toward Faustina's ear.

This denarius (RIC 700) demonstrates the Type 7 hairstyle. Note the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and back, toward the chignon at the nape of her neck.

This aureus (RIC 699, Münzkabinett Berlin) demonstrates the Type 8 hairstyle. Note the hair behind the brow wave is combed down and forward, toward the empress's ear.

Although the Type 9 hairstyle was also introduced at this time, I shall not discuss it because it is not relevant to the coin at hand and because I have previously discussed that hairstyle elsewhere.

This hairstyle is exemplified by a sculptural portrait at the Museo della Terme in Rome, illustrated below.
 

Portrait head of Faustina Minor demonstrating the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle, AD 162, Museo Nazionale Romano - Museo Delle Terme, inv. 642; DAI-ROM-38.740.[4]

You'll note the presence on this sculpture of two parallel braids of hair just behind the prominent brow wave. This is diagrammed below.

Diagram of the hairstyle on DAI-ROM-38.740.[5]

These two braids of hair above and behind the brow wave on sculptural portraits are a source of confusion, not only for numismatists, but for the die-engravers at the mint. This feature of the hairstyle is most typically interpreted as indicating one or two strands of pearls, not as braids of hair.[6] Beckmann, on the other hand, consistently refers to them as a braid.[7] Coins occasionally do appear to illustrate braids of hair, such as this sestertius with the VENVS VICTRIX reverse type.

Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 27.25 g, 30.7 mm, 6 h.
Rome, c. AD 166.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Bust of Faustina II, draped, right (Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle).
Rev: VENVS VICTRIX S C, Venus standing facing, head left, holding Victory in extended right hand and resting left hand on shield set on helmet.
Refs: RIC 1688; BMCRE 960-65; Cohen 283; RCV 5288; MIR 40-6/10b.

But this feature may be absent, such as on this as featuring a "bare-headed" version of the Beckmann Type 7 hairstyle.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ As, 8.35 g, 25.0 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161-164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm-branch in right hand and cornucopia in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1643 var.; BMCRE 982 var.; Cohen 113 var.; RCV 5296; MIR 15-7/10b.
Notes: This coin is a variety of the RIC, BMCRE and Cohen specimens in that Faustina wears no strands of pearls in the hair.

Other coins appear to illustrate a single circlet of pearls around the empress's head, such as this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 2.78 g, 18.2 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 166-170.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina II, right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle, strand of pearls in hair.
Rev: IVNO, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 688; BMCRE 107, 108, 111; RSC 120a; RCV 5255; CRE 188.

While others appear to illustrate a double circlet of pearls around the empress's head, such as this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.4 mm, 11 h.
Rome, c. AD 162-164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right; double circlet of pearls around head (Beckmann type 7 hairstyle).
Rev: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter, peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 696; BMCRE 118-120.; RSC 139a; RCV 5256; MIR 19-4/10a,b; CRE 192.

Lastly, for most issues of AD 161-166, there are varieties with a stephaned bust, which is worn behind the brow wave, such as on the OP coin or this denarius.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.01 g, 19.6 mm, 1 h.
Rome, AD 166-170.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina II, right, Beckmann type 7 hairstyle, wearing stephane.
Rev: IVNO, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; peacock at feet.
Refs: RIC 688 var. (stephane); BMCRE 109; RSC 120b; RCV 5255 var. (stephane); CRE 189.

 

So, Are They Braids or Pearls?

That's a hard question to answer, given the medium used for the portraits. It's easy to indicate braids on a life-size sculpture. It's much harder to indicate them on a tiny denarius portrait. It's possible that what appear to be pearls to us were a stylized way for engravers to indicate braided hair. However, I'm not convinced they must be braids. They look like pearls to me. All I can say is they are some sort of ornamentation which is occasionally absent, while at other times replaced by a stephane.

A Bit about the Type 8 Hairstyle

This hairstyle is not uncommon on the aurei of Faustina the Younger, but rarely found in other metals. I've never seen a denarius with this hairstyle, and I can recall seeing only a single bronze coin with this portrait type. The Type 8 hairstyle never appears with braids, pearls, or a stephane; it's always bare-headed. Beckmann oversimplifies when he states the absence of the braid is a distinguishing characteristic of the Type 8 hairstyle because there are a few examples of bare-headed Type 7 portraits. Rather, the sole distinguishing characteristic is the direction the hair flows behind the large brow wave. There are few sculptural representations of the empress with this hairstyle. Even though Fittschen notes the existence of three such portraits, as opposed to fifteen with the Type 7 coiffure,[8] Beckmann writes, "[F]or Type 8, which is rare in sculpture, it has not been possible to find a suitable image."[9]

But What Does This Have to Do with Tooling?

Well, one needs to be intimately familiar with the details of the Type 7 coiffure to see where this is going. The essential features of the style are the prominent brow wave, the downward and backward direction of the hair behind the brow wave, and the presence of braids/pearls or a stephane above and behind the brow wave. Brow wave. Les cheveux ondés. Got it? Good!

The OP coin is rare. An exhaustive search of online databases and print references identifies only three other specimens: one in Göttingen, one sold by Numismatik Naumann, and a third in Kremsmünster (cited by MIR). I have been unable to obtain an image of the Kremsmünster specimen for comparison, but my coin, the Göttingen and Naumann specimens are obverse die matches. I illustrate my coin again below for easy comparison with the others.

The specimen in my collection.

Compare my coin to this one sold by Naumann.

Numismatik Naumann, Auction 20, lot 673, 3 August 2014.

A careful comparison of the inscriptions and the relationship of the letters to the portrait as well as the outline of the portrait confirms they are obverse die-matches. But look at the hair detail on the portrait of the Naumann specimen. There is no prominent brow wave. Rather, hair detail consisting of shallow waves has been tooled in to give the appearance of a high-grade coin. Prior to being tooled, the coin was likely worn smooth, the prominent brow wave eroded by circulation wear. I suspect the figure of Fecunditas has been tooled as well. Before being tooled, the coin probably looked a grade higher than the Göttingen specimen, below.

Münzkabinett der Universität Göttingen (AN-0315)

Three of the four known specimens were struck with the same obverse die; I simply don't know about the fourth, because I haven't seen a photograph of it. It's quite likely that the coins of this reverse type and with the stephaned bust type were struck with a single obverse die. I'm happy to have obtained this coin for my collection. I hope that the high bidder on the Numismatic Naumann specimen was not deceived and paid an appropriately discounted price befitting of a tooled coin.

Let's see your coins with the Beckmann Type 7 (or 8 ) bust type! Feel free to post anything you feel is relevant.

~~~

Notes

1. See the beginning of Die Chain 7, Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 164.

2. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 58, 61, 86, 90.

3. See, for example, nos. 119 and 130 in Cohen, Henry. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Tome III: de Marc Aurèle à Albin (161 à 197 après J.-C.). Paris, 1883, pp. 146-147.

4. "Portraitkopf Der Faustina Minor Museo Nazionale Romano - Museo Delle Terme." Arachne, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1077060.

5. "Faustina Minor 8. Typus." Arachne, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1242456. Citing Fittschen, Klaus. Die Bildnistypen Der Faustina Minor Und Die Fecunditas Augustae. Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1982, p. 60 ff.

6. Described as pearls by Cohen, RIC, BMCRE, Strack, et al.

7. Beckmann, op. cit., pp. 61, 86, 90, and elsewhere.

8. As summarized in Beckmann, op. cit. p. 98, Table 7.1.

9. Beckmann, op. cit., p. 88.

R.C., Thanks for sharing your impressive essay ☺️! Great research & illustrative coins 😉. The tooled Naumann bronze was done by a master craftsman 😮.

[Ryro]

I really hope you are compiling these Fausty Fridays to publish a book!

Possible titles:

Faustina: My second favorite F word

Everything you'll ever need to know about Faustina II 

Freaky Friday Faustinas

D.T.F.? Down to Faustina?

And looky looks, my latest Faustina II has kids for days and sure looks DTF to me😉

 

[Marsyas Mike]

Terrific Faustina Friday as alway, @Roman Collector

As is often the case, it inspired me to update some of my attributions.  As far as I can tell, all three of my FECVNDITAS types have bare heads (no pearls, no diadems); with coins as low-grade as mine typically are, the pearls might've just been worn off.

I have two of the RIC 1638 sestertius; one has an obverse continuous legend, which appears to be unlisted (per the Faustina expert!)

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINA AVG[VSTA], bare-headed, draped bust right / [FECV]N[DITAS] S C, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1638; BMCRE—; Cohen100. (24.37 grams / 30 mm) eBay Dec. 2020 

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINAAVGVSTA, bare-headed, draped bust right / [FEC]VN[DITAS] S C,  Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1638 var. (obverse legend; see note). (19.94 grams / 28 mm) eBay Oct. 2018  

Notes:  This one has continuous obverse legend with no break; this coin on Roman Collector on CT Oct. 24, 2018 notes this is not in British Museum, Mattingly, etc.

Here's a denarius, also bare-headed (with a face gouge - ouch):

Faustina II  Denarius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed, draped bust right FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas standing right, holding sceptre and child. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 677; BMCRE 91. (3.09 grams / 18 mm) eBay June 2019 

Here's the LAETITIA type, with a few pearls barely visible in her hair:

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (late 162-early 163 A.D.) Rome Mint [FA]VSTINA AV[GVSTA], draped bust right, double circlet of pearls / L[AETITI]A S C, Laetitia standing left holding wreath and scepter. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1654; BMCRE 924-27; Cohen 149. (26.54 grams / 31 mm) eBay Feb. 2018             

 

 

 

 

[Roman Collector]

16 hours ago, shanxi said:

Interesting write up, as always.

 

Here is a denarius with braided band instead of pearls

Faustina Minor
AR-Denar, Rome
Obv.: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair bound with a braided band
Rev.: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno veiled, standing left, holding patera and sceptre; at her feet, a peacock.
Ag, 3.22g, 17mm
Ref.: RIC III 696 var., CRE 192 var. (hair bound with a braided band instead of pearls)

 

That's a great example that clearly shows the engraver was trying to depict a braid in the hair!

14 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

R.C., Thanks for sharing your impressive essay ☺️! Great research & illustrative coins 😉. The tooled Naumann bronze was done by a master craftsman 😮.

Thank you for the kind words, @Al Kowsky!

5 hours ago, Ryro said:

I really hope you are compiling these Fausty Fridays to publish a book!

Possible titles:

Faustina: My second favorite F word

Everything you'll ever need to know about Faustina II 

Freaky Friday Faustinas

D.T.F.? Down to Faustina?

And looky looks, my latest Faustina II has kids for days and sure looks DTF to me😉

 

LOL!! Thanks for a good laugh, as usual, Scoob!! Fun coin, too! I am indeed saving all the Faustina Friday installments.

2 hours ago, Marsyas Mike said:

Terrific Faustina Friday as alway, @Roman Collector

As is often the case, it inspired me to update some of my attributions.  As far as I can tell, all three of my FECVNDITAS types have bare heads (no pearls, no diadems); with coins as low-grade as mine typically are, the pearls might've just been worn off.

I have two of the RIC 1638 sestertius; one has an obverse continuous legend, which appears to be unlisted (per the Faustina expert!)

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINA AVG[VSTA], bare-headed, draped bust right / [FECV]N[DITAS] S C, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1638; BMCRE—; Cohen100. (24.37 grams / 30 mm) eBay Dec. 2020 

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINAAVGVSTA, bare-headed, draped bust right / [FEC]VN[DITAS] S C,  Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and infant. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1638 var. (obverse legend; see note). (19.94 grams / 28 mm) eBay Oct. 2018  

Notes:  This one has continuous obverse legend with no break; this coin on Roman Collector on CT Oct. 24, 2018 notes this is not in British Museum, Mattingly, etc.

Here's a denarius, also bare-headed (with a face gouge - ouch):

Faustina II  Denarius (162-early-163 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed, draped bust right FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas standing right, holding sceptre and child. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 677; BMCRE 91. (3.09 grams / 18 mm) eBay June 2019 

Here's the LAETITIA type, with a few pearls barely visible in her hair:

Faustina II  Æ Sestertius (late 162-early 163 A.D.) Rome Mint [FA]VSTINA AV[GVSTA], draped bust right, double circlet of pearls / L[AETITI]A S C, Laetitia standing left holding wreath and scepter. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1654; BMCRE 924-27; Cohen 149. (26.54 grams / 31 mm) eBay Feb. 2018             

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the kind words, @Marsyas Mike! I'm glad my little essay inspired you to study your coins closely! I think the sestertius on top has a double strand of pearls/double braid. Unclear about the others, though. It's fun to flyspeck these things!

[thejewk]

RC, you had me in paranoid mode staring at your OP coin to try and find traces of tooling before I started to read and absorb the text.  Was very glad when I reached the actual tooled coin, which is quite obvious in hindsight, but more so on the reverse than the obverse.  The SC in the fields are quite crudely raised, and the baby has the tell tale flatter top, but rapidly increasing gradient as the line reach the surface of the coin.  Quite a lot of metal has been removed there for sure. 

[happy_collector]

Another enjoyable read. Thanks, @Roman Collector. Great to be Friday and weekend again. 😉

I think my two coins are of similar type 7.

Edited July 23, 2022 by happy_collector

[curtislclay]

Thanks for the weekly Faustina threads, RC. They are helping me to familiarize myself with the sequence of Faustina's portrait types under Marcus Aurelius, which I find considerably less obvious than their sequence under Antoninus Pius! For example despite reading  Beckmann's book, I had until now never properly noticed Faustina's portrait type 8, with hair combed down and forward, so clearly shown on the Berlin aureus you illustrate. It would help if I could find the energy to reconstruct the type sequence of the Roman coinage of Marcus Aurelius himself as emperor and Lucius Verus, which would doubtless provide essential background for the study of the coinage that they struck at the same time for Faustina and Lucilla.

A minor point regarding this current thread: I don't think I can agree with you that the Nauman middle bronze that you illustrate has been tooled. I think the brow hair waves on that coin are original, they have merely been worn away on your overall much finer specimen from the same obverse die. I don't see clear traces of tooling anywhere on the Naumann coin. The indentations around some of the letters in the reverse legend that @thejewk points out also appear on many undoubtedly untouched coins, so must be not tooling but merely the result of how the letters were engraved or punched into the die.

 

 

 

 

[Roman Collector]

7 hours ago, curtislclay said:

Thanks for the weekly Faustina threads, RC. They are helping me to familiarize myself with the sequence of Faustina's portrait types under Marcus Aurelius, which I find considerably less obvious than their sequence under Antoninus Pius! For example despite reading  Beckmann's book, I had until now never properly noticed Faustina's portrait type 8, with hair combed down and forward, so clearly shown on the Berlin aureus you illustrate. It would help if I could find the energy to reconstruct the type sequence of the Roman coinage of Marcus Aurelius himself as emperor and Lucius Verus, which would doubtless provide essential background for the study of the coinage that they struck at the same time for Faustina and Lucilla.

A minor point regarding this current thread: I don't think I can agree with you that the Nauman middle bronze that you illustrate has been tooled. I think the brow hair waves on that coin are original, they have merely been worn away on your overall much finer specimen from the same obverse die. I don't see clear traces of tooling anywhere on the Naumann coin. The indentations around some of the letters in the reverse legend that @thejewk points out also appear on many undoubtedly untouched coins, so must be not tooling but merely the result of how the letters were engraved or punched into the die.

Thank you for the kind words, @curtislclay! That means a lot coming from you. Even though it's worn, I believe my coin shows the deep brow waves of the type 7 style.

Just like on the corresponding denarius:

 

These deep brow waves are absent on the Naumann coin. This isn't a type 7 hairstyle. The coin is an obverse die-match otherwise.
 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Roman Collector

[Curtis JJ]

This is really interesting work. Well done, finding what may be the best example of that obverse die. No doubt that'll be helpful for others in the future trying to check for tooling if new examples are found.

I may have showed these on other Faustina Fridays, but I've been curious about the Provincials from Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Usually they're described as "...crescent on forehead." But what is it? What's it doing on her forehead? Is that a local symbol (part of the Cult of Helios maybe)? I don't think I've seen it elsewhere. Even with really nice examples, it's really hard to find any clues to what it is or how stays up there.

Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Faustina II (Augusta, 147-175 CE), Æ Triassarion (29mm, 10.11 g, 6h). Draped bust right w/ crescent on forehead. Radiate Helios standing left, raising hand and holding scepter, torch to left; countermark left: T (incuse).

This example = SNG von Aulock 5572 = Robert (1964) 27, pl. XXVI.77 = SNG Levante 1586 = RPC IV.3 4976 (temporary), ex. 6 = Isegrim Database 32247 ex. 1.
Cited in Howgego GIC 686 (as Robert 77).

Below is an RIC example that I got for the obverse which I found really entrancing and lifelike. (Almost a smile; she looks like she's really looking at something. Like, really.) On this one, not only are the overlapping strands and layers interesting, but so is the bun in back at the nape of her neck.

Different angles/lighting show slightly different details of hair. I'm glad to see your various examples, because I've always had trouble figuring out just what's going on in all these hairstyles. 

Faustina II (Augusta, 147-175 CE) AR Denarius (3.21g, 19mm), Rome 161-164 CE. Draped bust right. Hilaritas standing left, holding cornucopia and palm frond set on ground. RIC III Aurelius 686; RSC 111; Göbl MIR 18, Fa15-4/10b.

  

Ex-Artemide Aste srl e-Auction 11 (San Marino, 26 Jan 2020), Lot 450.

[lrbguy]

On 7/27/2022 at 11:44 PM, Curtis JJ said:

I may have showed these on other Faustina Fridays, but I've been curious about the Provincials from Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Usually they're described as "...crescent on forehead." But what is it? What's it doing on her forehead? Is that a local symbol (part of the Cult of Helios maybe)? I don't think I've seen it elsewhere. Even with really nice examples, it's really hard to find any clues to what it is or how stays up there.

Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Faustina II (Augusta, 147-175 CE), Æ Triassarion (29mm, 10.11 g, 6h). Draped bust right w/ crescent on forehead. Radiate Helios standing left, raising hand and holding scepter, torch to left; countermark left: T (incuse).

This example = SNG von Aulock 5572 = Robert (1964) 27, pl. XXVI.77 = SNG Levante 1586 = RPC IV.3 4976 (temporary), ex. 6 = Isegrim Database 32247 ex. 1.
Cited in Howgego GIC 686 (as Robert 77).

Not sure why you would associate the crescent with the cult of Helios.  I am more inclined to think of Luna and see the two sides of the coin as a sister/bother motif. There is ample precedent in Roman Republican coinage for this marking of Luna, so it should not be entirely surprising to find it in some provincial material.  But I'm just going by appearances without references.

Come to think of it, the brother/sister motif makes political/social sense as a way of letting Heliopolis express its admiration for the empress by casting her in a "sister" image.

Edited July 28, 2023 by lrbguy
added detail