Faustina Friday – A Right-Facing MATRI MAGNAE denarius

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! I hope the weekend affords you time to spend with your collections. Today I'm going to talk about a new acquisition. But first, a little background about the issue. On the MATRI MAGNAE reverse type issued for Faustina the Younger, Cybele, the Great Mother, is seated facing right on the aurei and bronze denominations but is seated left on the denarii. I illustrate the usual type, below.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.20 g, 17.7 mm, 1 h.
Rome, c. 174-175 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: MATRI MAGNAE, Cybele seated left holding branch in right hand, resting left arm on drum; at her side, lion.
Refs: RIC 706; BMCRE 134; Cohen 192; RCV 5281; MIR 26; CRE 173.

However, a denarius depicting Cybele seated right surfaced at auction about three years ago. This variety is not listed in RIC, BMCRE, Cohen, Sear, MIR, or Temeryazev & Makarenko (CRE).

Kölner Münzkabinett Tyll Kroha Nachfolger UG, Auction 115, lot 421, 29 October 2021.

It was hard to know what to make of the coin. Its green encrustations suggested it might have been a fourrée. Paul Dinsdale suggested it had been accidentally struck with a reverse die intended for an aureus or cast from an aureus.[1] In addition to these explanations, I considered the possibility that it was a modern forgery. Our own @shanxi was the successful bidder on the coin and it now resides in his collection. He skillfully cleaned the coin, removing the encrustations, revealing it to have been struck of good silver, with no evidence of casting or plating.

Shanxi's coin after cleaning.

Although this specimen was the first to come to my attention, it turns out that @curtislclay had a specimen in his collection, which he purchased from Lanz on eBay on 23 November 2008. Curtis consigned the coin to the most recent Harlan J. Berk Buy or Bid sale, from where I acquired the coin last week. I illustrate this specimen, below.

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 3.44 g, 17.5 mm, 12 h.
Rome, 174-175 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right (Beckmann Type 10 hairstyle).
Rev: MATRI MAGNAE: Cybele, towered, draped, seated right on throne between two lions, holding drum in left hand on lap.
Refs: RIC –; BMCRE –; Cohen –; MIR –; CRE –.
Notes: Ex- Curtis L. Clay, ex- Lanz eBay, 23 November 2008. Reverse die match to Kölner Münzkabinett Tyll Kroha Nachfolger UG, Auction 115, lot 421, 29 October 2021.

After a comprehensive search of internet databases, I have been unable to identify any other specimens of this mirror-image reverse type in silver. It appears that Shanxi and I own the only two known specimens of this coin. We are probably the only two collectors who care, however, which will be problematic when it comes time for either of us to liquidate our collections.

Note that both coins were struck from the same reverse die, as would be expected from such a rare variety, but from different obverse dies. Why is this important? Because it rules out the cast from an aureus theory entirely and it argues against the notion that it was struck by mistake from an aureus die. It also argues against the notion that they are modern or ancient forgeries. The final blow to the aureus die theory is that Beckmann's comprehensive die study of the aurei of Faustina the Younger records eight aureus dies of this reverse type, none of which are die-matches to the denarii of the type.[2] In short, these denarii appear to have been an official issue of the Rome mint produced by a single anomalous die depicting Cybele as a mirror image to her usual representation on the denarius denomination. We see this mirror-image phenomenon from time to time in Antonine coinage, whether it be a left-facing bust variety or a deity on the reverse depicted in mirror image. See, for example this pair of LAETITIA denarii, below.

Two denarii of Faustina the Younger of the LAETITIA reverse type. On the usual variety (RIC 701, top), the goddess stands left, holding wreath and scepter. On the mirror image variety (RIC 702 var., below), she stands right, holding scepter and wreath.

The mirror-image MATRI MAGNAE denarii of Faustina the Younger seem to be an analogous situation.

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

~~~

Notes

1. Dinsdale, Paul H The Imperial Coinage of the Middle Antonines: Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus and Commodus. Leeds, Paul H Dinsdale, 2020, p. 56.

2. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 199.

Edited Friday at 11:57 AM by Roman Collector
New photo

[CPK]

Interesting coin and writeup! Thanks for sharing. 👍