Faustina Friday – An Unusual Representation of Pudicitia on a Denarius of Faustina the Younger

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! I hope this weekend finds you enjoying your collections. Today we'll explore a scarce reverse type of Faustina the Younger, issued only in the denarius denomination, with an unusual representation of Pudicitia.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.32 g, 18.1 mm, 7 h.
Rome, c. May – end summer 151 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 2 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA, Pudicitia standing front, head right, holding up palla with each hand, cornucopiae on left arm.
RIC –; BMCRE –; Cohen –; RSC 185a; Strack 509(Sofia); RCV –; CRE 165 corr.

What is unusual about the iconography is that Pudicitia does not typically hold a cornucopiae. Rather, the imagery on the Pudicitia reverse type is that used for Concordia, such as on this denarius of Faustina the Younger issued contemporaneously and which differs only in its reverse inscription.

Faustina Jr, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.03 g, 17.3 mm, 7 h.
Rome, c. May – end summer 151 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann type 2 hairstyle).
Rev: CONCORDIA, Concordia standing front, head right, holding up palla with each hand, cornucopiae on left arm.
Refs: RIC 500(b)3; BMCRE 1085; Cohen 42, Strack 505; RCV –; CRE 164.
Notes: Obverse die match to the British Museum Specimen.

However, this is rather unusual iconography for Concordia, who is typically depicted holding a patera in addition to a cornucopiae and who does not typically adjust or lift her palla. Rather, a figure raising her palla is more typical of Pudicitia. In short, the image of a standing female figure holding up her drapery with each hand and holding a cornucopiae in the left arm is unusual iconography for both Pudicitia and Concordia.

Chronologically, these two issues come immediately after a lengthy series of coins depicting Pudicitia in a more usual fashion. This PVDICITIA type first appears with the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle and then continues after the introduction of the Type 2 hairstyle upon the birth of Lucilla on March 7, 149 CE.[1] The obverse of the coin typically features the dative case inscription FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL.[2] The reverse depicts Pudicitia veiled, standing left, arranging the drapery on her right shoulder, and holding up the hem of her stola. I have previously discussed this reverse type. I illustrate the type with a denarius, below.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.86 g, 19.2 mm, 7 h.
Rome, c. March 149 – May 151 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann type 2 hairstyle).
Rev: PVDICITIA, Pudicitia veiled, standing left, arranging drapery on right shoulder, and holding up hem of skirt.
Refs: RIC 507a; BMCRE 1051-53; Cohen 185 corr.; RSC 176a; Sear 4706; Strack 493; CRE 206.
Note: Cohen 176 refers to a diademed bust type (likely a misdescribed specimen with the Beckmann Type 1 hairstyle).[3] Cohen 185 with obverse right-facing bust "avec les chevaux ondés" (with wavy hair) and reverse "La Pudeur debout à gauche, se couvrent la tête de son voile, main droite baissée" (Pudicitia stg. l., covering her head with veil, r. hand lowered at side) is probably this coin.

Why Depict Concordia on a Coin with a PVDICITIA Inscription?

There are two denarii featuring a female figure raising a fold of her skirt and holding a cornucopiae issued contemporaneously, a common type with the reverse legend CONCORDIA and a rare type reading PVDICITIA. This situation led Temeryazev and Makarenko to postulate that this situation arose because of an engraver's error, that the die cutter may have mistakenly written PVDICITIA on a die intended for a CONCORDIA type.[4] Were that the case, we would expect all the known specimens to be the product of a single, erroneous, reverse die. That is not the case, however; the type was produced by a minimum of five different reverse dies.[5] The only reasonable conclusion is that the use of the PVDICITIA inscription on a denarius with the same iconography as the CONCORDIA reverse type was intentional.

A Die Study of the Known Specimens

There is a single specimen with the earlier dative case obverse inscription, FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL.[6] Its reverse die is unique.

Specimen in the Museo Civico Archaeologico, Bologna, Italy. Photo from Strack pl. 7, no. 494.

The remainder of the specimens use the nominative case obverse inscription, FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL. My specimen and the Lanz specimen were struck with the same die pair.

The specimen in my collection, Harlan J Berk, 229th Buy or Bid Sale, lot 144, 19 November 2024.

CRE 165 corr. Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 109, lot 499, 27 May 2002.

The ANS, Sofia (Strack) and Herrero specimens were struck by a third reverse die. The Sofia and Herrero specimens also share an obverse die.

American Numismatic Society 1956.127.911.

National Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria. Strack pl. 7, no. 509.

José A. Herrero, 13 May auction, lot 256, 2013.

The Naumann specimen was struck by yet a fourth reverse die.

Numismatik Naumann, Auction 97, lot 478, 6 December 2020.

Although it shares an obverse die with the Naumann specimen, the Roma specimen was struck with a fifth reverse die.

Roma Numismatics Limited, E-sale 89, lot 1074, 5 November 2021.

Conclusions

The image of a standing female figure holding up her drapery with each hand and holding a cornucopiae in the left arm is unusual iconography for both Pudicitia and Concordia. Both the PVDICITIA and CONCORDIA type bear the same reverse design and were each issued deliberately and contemporaneously. Using the same iconography to personify Pudicitia and Concordia did not seem to trouble the Roman people, however. To the best of my knowledge, this iconography was never used again in Roman coin design for either Pudicitia or Concordia.

Please post comments, coins, or anything you feel is relevant!

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Notes

1. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 35-40. I am aware that there is some scholarly disagreement as to Lucilla's birth year. This is largely due to the work of Anthony Birley, who postulates the birth of twin boys in 149 CE. This is soundly rejected by Walter Ameling and by the numismatic evidence itself, which I have reviewed in detail elsewhere. See Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 115-118 for a review of the academic literature on the dating of the births of Faustina's children.

2. The coin is also known with Faustina’s second obverse inscription, the nominative case FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL, introduced about May 151 CE. It is extremely rare, with known examples limited to a specimen in Gotha (Herzogliches Münzkabinett), one from Feuardent (cited by Strack), and two in the Nationalmuseum in Sofia from the Reka Devnia hoard. Cohen 177 (cited by RIC as 507c) cites an example in Paris, but Strack – who was familiar with the holdings of the BnF in Paris – notes no such specimen there. The existence of a handful of denarii with this obverse inscription serves as a terminus ante quem for the Pudicitia standing left, arranging drapery on right shoulder, and holding up hem of skirt issue.

3. Probably the specimen illustrated in Gauthier-Dussart, Roxane, et al. "Entre Rome et Alexandrie: Le Monnayage d'antonin Le Pieux (138-161), Idéologie Du Règne et Adaptations Locales." l'Université de Montréal, 2017, pl. 105, no. 1773.

4. Temeryazev, S. A., and T. P. Makarenko (CRE). The Coinage of Roman Empresses. San Bernardino, CreateSpace, 2017. See footnote to no. 165, p. 61.

5. There may be a sixth die. Strack notes a specimen in Vienna (RÖ12484) depicting the female figure standing front, head left, but otherwise of the same reverse design (Strack 506; RSC 185*). Strack, Paul L., Untersuchungen zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts, vol. 3, Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. Stuttgart 1937. The coin is not illustrated in Strack and I have been unable to confirm the existence of other specimens of the head facing left variety. The specimen may simply have been unclear or misdescribed.

6. This establishes a terminus post quem for the Pudicitia standing front, head right (or left), holding up skirt with each hand, cornucopiae on left arm type of May 151 CE, when the dative inscription was discontinued. This demonstrates that the subsequent nominative case coins belong to the first period of use of the FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL legend, from about May through the end of the summer 151 CE, and not to the second period of use for this legend, which was resumed about June 152 and in use through December 155 CE. The situation is analogous to the CONCORDIA sestertii I have discussed in a previous installment of Faustina Friday.

Edited October 5, 2024 by Roman Collector
Replace incorrect photo

[JAZ Numismatics]

It's possible that the inscription PVDICITIA is not actually naming the pictured personification. The message might be that modesty and sexual virtue resulted in concord or harmony, i.e. PVDICITIA fosters CONCORDIA. As you surely know, there are various Roman types that proclaim VIRTVS on the reverse, but show a variety of gods, and sometimes even emperors.

[Roman Collector]

19 hours ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

It's possible that the inscription PVDICITIA is not actually naming the pictured personification. The message might be that modesty and sexual virtue resulted in concord or harmony, i.e. PVDICITIA fosters CONCORDIA. As you surely know, there are various Roman types that proclaim VIRTVS on the reverse, but show a variety of gods, and sometimes even emperors.

That is an insightful observation!