Diva Faustina I Copper As, RIC III Antoninus Pius 1199a (as)

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

In the mid-second century AD, the monetary system established by Augustus remained fundamentally stable, operating as a trimetallic hierarchy connecting gold, silver, orichalcum, and copper denominations. The as, struck in relatively pure copper or related bronze alloys, served as a core fractional unit beneath the silver denarius and the orichalcum sestertius and dupondius. Valued at one-sixteenth of a denarius and one-fourth of a sestertius, the as was an essential vehicle for everyday low-value transactions, from market produce and local taverns to municipal dues and minor retail exchanges throughout the city of Rome and Roman Italy. During the early reign of Antoninus Pius, the imperial treasury maintained high metallic standards and consistent production volume. Following the sudden death of Empress Annia Galeria Faustina in late AD 140, the Senate granted her divine honours, approving her formal consecration as Diva Faustina. The mint of Rome immediately mobilized an unprecedented mass of commemorative coinage across all standard denominations. Base-metal pieces such as RIC III 1199a played a vital role in this public relations effort. While gold aurei and silver denarii addressed the military, aristocracy, and provincial administrative elites, the bronze as reached ordinary citizens in everyday trade, ensuring that the visual cult of the newly consecrated empress permeated the deepest levels of daily economic life.

Production Technology and Mint Organization

RIC III Antoninus Pius 1199a was produced centrally at the imperial mint of Rome, which retained exclusive responsibility for striking official senatorial bronze coinage for the western empire during the Antonine period. Production utilized standard ancient striking techniques: blank cast flans of unalloyed copper or low-tin bronze were heated and struck between an engraved lower anvil die and an upper punch die held manually by mint workers. The metallurgical profile of the Antonine as typically reveals high copper content, distinguishing it from the zinc-rich brass alloy used for sestertii and dupondii. Official weight standards for the as during the reign of Antoninus Pius targeted approximately 10 to 11 grams, although individual surviving specimens demonstrate natural variability resulting from the ancient practice of striking flans al marco (a fixed number of blanks cut per pound of metal) rather than al pezzo (exact individual weight adjustment). Die orientation tended toward a regular vertical alignment, predominantly six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting the disciplined workshop organization of the Rome mint. Engravers exhibited exceptional technical skill in translating complex imperial portraiture and delicate astral compositions onto small flan surfaces measuring approximately 25 to 27 millimeters in diameter.

Obverse Portraiture and Stylistic Characteristics

The obverse of RIC III 1199a features a right-facing, draped bust of the deified Faustina the Elder. The portrait embodies the refined classicism characteristic of the Antonine court, blending naturalistic facial modeling with idealized regal serenity. Faustina is depicted with her renowned and elaborate hairstyle, which set fashions across the Mediterranean world: the hair is meticulously waved along the brow and sides, gathered in braided bands across the crown, drawn upward from the nape of the neck, and coiled into a stately braided bun at the apex of the head. Her drapery is rendered with soft, concentric folds covering the shoulders and lower bust, conveying modesty, dignity, and matronly virtue. The absence of a veil on this specific type, contrasted with other contemporaneous consecration issues, underscores her status as an active, immortal divinity rather than a deceased mortal in mourning or funeral rites. The dies display notable internal consistency, though subtle stylistic variations exist in the proportions of the braided bun and the fullness of the facial profile, indicative of multiple master engravers working concurrently within the Rome mint's bronze officinae.

Reverse Iconography: Crescent and Seven Stars

The reverse design of this as presents a potent celestial composition: a slender crescent moon positioned with its points curving upward, surrounded by seven distinct stars. The arrangement places two stars near the terminal horns of the crescent, with two stars flanking to the left and three to the right, or distributed evenly around the lunar curve depending on individual die cutting. In classical Graeco-Roman religion and imperial ideology, the moon had long been associated with Diana, Lucina, and the feminine principles of fertility, nocturnal light, and divine guardianship. In the specific context of imperial consecration, the crescent and stars evoke the concept of aeternitas (eternity) and the catasterism of the empress, signifying that her soul had ascended past the sublunary sphere to dwell permanently among the immortal stars of the cosmos. The seven stars may also carry cosmological significance, reflecting the seven known planetary bodies or constellations such as the Pleiades or the Great Bear, further emphasizing celestial harmony and universal order. Flanking the lower fields of the design are the prominent letters S and C, denoting Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'), which affirmed traditional senatorial authority over the casting and striking of base-metal currency.

Inscriptional Formulas and Epigraphy

The legends on RIC III 1199a are concise, stately, and unambiguous. The obverse inscription reads DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, running clockwise along the flan perimeter starting from the lower left. This brief formula confirms her divine status through the opening title DIVA, while preserving the imperial title AVGVSTA that she bore during her lifetime, joined with her personal cognomen FAVSTINA. Unlike living imperial coinages, there are no references to tribunician powers, consulships, or imperial acclamations, as deceased empresses did not hold magisterial offices. The reverse is entirely free of peripheral titular legends, allowing the dramatic astral iconography to occupy the central field uninterrupted. The sole inscriptional element on the reverse consists of the formulaic S C, placed in the lower left and right fields or beneath the lunar arc. The epigraphy exhibits the crisp, balanced serif lettering characteristic of high-quality mid-second-century Roman capital script, with careful spacing and well-proportioned characters engineered to remain legible despite frequent flan slippage or uneven striking.

Typological Placement and Chronological Framework

Catalogued under the precise reference RIC III Antoninus Pius 1199a, this bronze as is dated securely to AD 141, the year immediately following the death and deification of Faustina the Elder in the autumn of AD 140. It belongs to the earliest chronological phase of the Diva Faustina series, distinguishable from subsequent issues that introduced the title DIVA FAVSTINA or depicted her veiled and enthroned with attributes of Ceres or Aeternitas. Type 1199a must be distinguished from the sestertius and dupondius emissions sharing similar reverse iconography, as well as from RIC III 1199b, which presents minor variations in reverse star arrangement or portrait drapery details. In modern corpus arrangements, including Strack's classification and the British Museum collection catalogues, this early consecration series is recognized as an immediate, concentrated emission designed to formalize the newly established state cult before the completion of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Forum. Production of this specific type appears to have been relatively short-lived compared to the prolonged posthumous issues that continued until the end of Antoninus Pius's reign in AD 161.

Circulation Patterns, Wear, and Archaeological Context

Once released from the mint of Rome, bronze asses of the RIC III 1199a type entered widespread circulation across the western provinces of the Roman Empire, including Roman Italy, Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and the Danubian frontier. While fractional aes did not travel internationally as readily as gold aurei or silver denarii, military movements, state disbursements, and commercial river networks facilitated its movement throughout the Rhine and Danube limes. Because the intrinsic copper value of the as remained relatively high under Antoninus Pius, these coins circulated for decades, frequently showing extensive handling wear, smooth patination, or countermarks in third-century archaeological contexts. Hoard evidence from western Europe confirms that Antonine base-metal pieces routinely circulated alongside older Trajanic and Hadrianic bronzes well into the Severan era. The prominent astronomical iconography and recognizable portrait ensured that even heavily worn specimens continued to convey Faustina's divine memory long after the initial political impetus of her consecration in AD 141 had passed.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 238-239, no. 1475
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 165-166, no. 1199a
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 1199a (as). ric.3.ant.1199a_as
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. pp. 142-144