Faustina the Younger Sestertius, RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381

Monetary Context and Imperial Ideology

During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 to 161 AD), the imperial monetary system maintained the traditional Augustan denomination structure, within which the orichalcum sestertius served as the flagship base-metal denomination. Valued at one-quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius possessed a broad flan and heavy mass that made it ideal for conveying detailed ideological messaging to all strata of Roman society. Under Antoninus Pius, the imperial mint dedicated considerable production to celebrating family members, notably the deceased empress Faustina the Elder and the junior imperial couple, Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. Following Faustina the Younger's marriage to Marcus Aurelius in 145 AD and the subsequent birth of their first child in late 147 AD, her status was elevated with the title of Augusta. Coins bearing her name and image, including RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381, functioned not merely as currency but as public affirmations of dynastic stability, legitimate succession, and moral rectitude. The invocation of traditional virtues on large bronze issues reinforced senatorial and popular confidence in the Antonine succession plan, presenting the young Augusta as an exemplar of traditional Roman womanhood.

Mint Organization and Physical Production

RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381 was produced exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. Mint operations under the Antonines were structured into designated officinae, which coordinated the engraving of dies, alloy preparation, flan casting, and manual striking. Sestertii of this era were manufactured from orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc alloy typically comprising approximately seventy to eighty-five percent copper with a balance of zinc, along with minor trace elements of tin and lead. Individual planchets were cast in molds and frequently adjusted with tongs or filing while hot or warm, leading to characteristic beveling on the flan edges. Antonine sestertii during this phase adhered to a broad modal weight standard centering around twenty-four to twenty-eight grams, though surviving specimens demonstrate considerable variation resulting from batch-weighing practices (al marco) rather than exact individual piece calibration. Flans typically measure between thirty-one and thirty-four millimeters in diameter, providing ample surface area for deep die engraving and high-relief portraiture. Surviving examples demonstrate that die alignment was commonly adjusted close to a twelve o'clock or six o'clock axis, consistent with standard imperial mint practice in Rome.

Obverse Portraiture and Attributes

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381 presents a finely executed right-facing bust of Faustina the Younger, draped in standard Roman imperial fashion with soft textile folds gathered over the shoulders and neckline. The portrait captures her youthful features during the middle years of her father's reign. Her hair is rendered in an elaborate, carefully structured fashion characteristic of her early imperial coinage: the hair is parted into crisp horizontal waves or ridges that wrap around the crown, accompanied by delicate ringlets descending along the front temple and cheek. The mass of hair is drawn smoothly toward the posterior part of the head, where it is braided and gathered into a neat, coiled chignon or bun pinned securely at the nape. This hairstyle, widely categorized by art historians and numismatists as Faustina II's early style, visually established her personal iconography before the more voluminous braided styles adopted during the sole reign of Marcus Aurelius. The high relief of the die cutting captures both the texture of the coiffure and the refined classical profile typical of mid-second-century Roman court art.

Reverse Iconography: Pudicitia

The reverse design of the type is dedicated to Pudicitia, the traditional personification of modesty, chastity, and wifely virtue. On RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381, Pudicitia is depicted as a dignified female figure, fully draped in a stola and mantle, seated facing left on an ornate, high-backed throne. Her head is veiled, symbolizing modesty and religious purity. With her right hand raised, she delicately draws forward the edge of her veil away from her face, an iconic gesture (pudicitia gesture) long established in Greco-Roman sculpture to denote feminine reserve and marital honor. Her left arm rests comfortably across her lap, conveying tranquility and self-possession. The throne on which she sits represents her elevated status within the pantheon of imperial virtues. Flanking the seated figure in the lower fields is the inscription S C, an abbreviation for Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'), which was the standard legal sanction appearing on imperial bronze and orichalcum issues. The integration of Pudicitia with Faustina's name established a direct public connection between the young Augusta and the moral integrity necessary for mothering the future rulers of the empire.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The legends on RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381 are rendered in clean, monumental Latin capital script, cut with sharp serifs that are typical of the Rome mint during the Antonine period. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, an epigraphic formula utilizing the dative case to express formal dedication: 'To Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus' (Faustinae Augustae Pii Augusti Filiae). This construction highlights both her personal rank as Augusta and her direct filial connection to the ruling emperor, Antoninus Pius, thereby emphasizing the dynastic foundation of her authority. The reverse features the single nominative legend PVDICITIA, identifying the personified virtue depicted in the central field. Accompanying the personification is the constitutional formula S C (Senatus Consulto) positioned in the left and right fields of the reverse, confirming that the bronze issue was struck under the traditional monetary authority of the Roman Senate acting in concert with the princeps. Epigraphic variations on this specific catalogue type are minimal, though minor differences in letter spacing, punctuation stops, and die breaks occur naturally across different working dies.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Catalogued in standard reference literature as RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381, this issue forms part of a cohesive series of bronze and precious-metal coins struck for Faustina the Younger during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Her numismatic appearances can be divided into distinct chronological phases: her pre-Augusta issues struck around her marriage to Marcus Aurelius in 145 AD (inscribed FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL without the title Augusta applied directly to her), her early Augusta issues following her elevation around late 147 AD (utilizing the dative legend FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL), and later issues transitioning toward nominative legends such as FAVSTINA AVGVSTA. RIC III 1381 belongs firmly to the second phase, dating between approximately 147 AD and the conclusion of Antoninus Pius's reign in 161 AD. While Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham placed this broad type in the wider 145 to 161 AD bracket in Roman Imperial Coinage, more refined chronological studies by Paul Strack suggest that the Pudicitia series was heavily struck in the late 140s and early 150s AD to celebrate the birth of Faustina's early children, including Lucilla, born in 149 or 150 AD. The sestertius is closely paralleled by middle bronze denominations (dupondii and asses) bearing identical legends and iconography, as well as contemporaneous denarii and aurei carrying the Pudicitia reverse type.

Circulation Patterns, Wear, and Hoard Evidence

As an orichalcum sestertius, RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381 fulfilled a vital role in everyday commercial transactions throughout the Roman Empire. Sestertii circulated widely across Italy and the western provinces, including Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, where civilian trade and military expenditures required substantial volumes of base-metal coinage. Archaeological findspots and excavation data demonstrate that Antonine bronze coins experienced prolonged circulation, often remaining in active commercial use for several decades, and in some instances well into the third century AD. Due to this extended velocity of circulation, surviving specimens commonly exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear, softening the fine details of Faustina's ringlets and Pudicitia's drapery. Bronze hoards from the western provinces occasionally preserve specimens alongside earlier Flavian and Trajanic sestertii, illustrating the conservative nature of Roman bronze circulation. Furthermore, exposure to diverse soil chemistries across European findspots has resulted in varied surface preservation, ranging from smooth dark green and brown patinas on specimens recovered from dry riverbanks or calcareous soils to rougher, pitted surfaces on pieces retrieved from agricultural lands.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 376-378
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381. RIC III Antoninus Pius 1381
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 165, no. 1381
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. no. 1224