RIC III Antoninus Pius 353b Silver Denarius

Monetary and Political Context

The death of Empress Faustina the Elder in late AD 140, during the third year of Antoninus Pius's reign, marked a defining moment in Antonine imperial presentation. Devastated by the loss of his wife, the emperor secured her formal deification from the Senate, inaugurating an expansive commemorative program that encompassed monumental architecture, charitable foundations such as the Puellae Faustinianae, and one of the largest consecration coinages produced in Roman history. Consecration issues were not mere expressions of private grief; they functioned as potent instruments of imperial legitimacy. By elevating Faustina to divine status (Diva), Antoninus Pius reinforced the sacred aura surrounding the imperial household and affirmed the uninterrupted continuity of the dynasty. The silver denarius served as the financial backbone of this ideological campaign, circulating continuously among soldiers, civil servants, and urban populations across the empire. The denarius during this period maintained the metrological parameters established under Trajan and Hadrian, with an average weight clustered between 3.15 and 3.40 grams. While earlier deification issues for imperial women like Livia, Domitilla, or Plotina were comparatively modest in volume, the consecration series for Faustina I under Antoninus Pius attained an unprecedented scale, transforming the silver denarius into a ubiquitous medium of imperial sacralization.

Mint Production and Technical Standards

RIC III Antoninus Pius 353b was manufactured exclusively at the central imperial mint in Rome, which handled virtually all precious-metal coinage for the empire during the mid-second century AD. Production relied on high-volume hand-striking methods using paired iron or bronze dies. Blanks were cast in moulds, carefully weight-adjusted, and struck hot between a stationary lower die and an upper punch die. Mint engravers in Rome maintained an exceptionally high artistic standard, executing the delicate drapery and sophisticated braided hairstyles that characterized Faustina's courtly appearance. Metallurgical analyses of mid-second-century denarii indicate that Antoninus Pius maintained a silver fineness averaging approximately 75 to 80 percent purity, alloyed with copper. Die alignment for Rome during this period was predominantly regular, set to a strict six o'clock (down) or twelve o'clock (up) orientation, reflecting stringent workshop discipline. The sheer quantity of dies recorded for the consecration denarii demonstrates that multiple officinae were operating simultaneously to produce these posthumous issues, ensuring rapid distribution through state payments, treasury disbursements, and provincial banking networks.

Obverse Iconography and Veiled Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Antoninus Pius 353b features a right-facing bust of Faustina the Elder that is both draped and veiled. Her hair is rendered with great delicacy: intricately waved in horizontal tiers along the side of the head and gathered into a high, braided coil resting on the crown. The addition of the veil (velum) over the back of the head is a critical iconographic marker signifying her post-mortem status. In Roman religious convention, veiling denoted ritual piety, sacral sacrifice, and, in posthumous contexts, ascension into the divine sphere. Unlike lifetime portraits that portrayed Faustina as living Augusta, consecration portraits deliberately emphasized serene, idealised, and timeless facial features. Engravers subtly erased signs of advanced age, presenting her as an immortalized protectress. The drape over her shoulders falls in soft folds, reinforcing traditional matronly modesty (pudicitia) while visually harmonizing with the religious gravity conveyed by the veil.

Reverse Iconography: Pulvinar, Sceptre, and Peacock

The reverse design of this catalogue type presents a rich synthesis of Roman ritual and celestial symbolism. It displays a ceremonial throne, or pulvinar, carefully draped with textile coverings and adorned with decorative moldings. Resting diagonally against the throne is a tall, transverse sceptre pointing upward to the right, while in front of the throne stands a peacock facing right. In Roman state religion, the pulvinar was prepared during the lectisternium and the supplicationes, solemn banquets where images or attributes of the gods were displayed to invite their presence and favor. The sceptre symbolized supreme sovereign majesty, while the peacock was the sacred bird and theriomorphic emblem of Juno, the queen of heaven. By depicting the throne of Juno unoccupied by a physical effigy, the design signifies that Diva Faustina has been received into the celestial realm, sharing in Juno's sacred honors. The peacock further served as the mythological vehicle believed to transport the souls of deceased empresses up to heaven during the consecratio ceremony, paralleling the role of the eagle for consecrated emperors.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The epigraphic layout of RIC III Antoninus Pius 353b is marked by austere brevity and profound ideological resonance. The obverse legend reads DIVA FAVSTINA, running clockwise along the border. The title Diva formally confirms her Senate-approved apotheosis, permanently separating this series from her earlier lifetime issues which bore the legend FAVSTINA AVGVSTA. On the reverse, the single legend AETERNITAS appears across the upper border, framing the pulvinar composition. Aeternitas personified divine timelessness, imperishability, and the eternal duration of the Roman empire. On consecration coinage, the word conveyed a double meaning: it celebrated both Faustina's immortal existence among the stars and the enduring stability that the Antonine dynasty pledged to the Roman state. The lettering is cleanly cut in classical Roman square capitals, characteristic of the finest work produced by the Rome mint during the early Antonine era.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC III 353b is classified under the consecration series struck by Antoninus Pius for Diva Faustina. Mattingly subdivided the type into distinct variants based on portrait details: RIC 353a features a draped bust without a veil, whereas RIC 353b specifies the veiled and draped bust. Both variants share the identical reverse composition of the draped throne with transverse sceptre and peacock. Modern die studies, notably by Martin Beckmann, have refined the chronology of Faustina's consecration coinage. Although the standard OCRE reference catalogues this type to AD 141, the year immediately following her death, the production of consecration denarii bearing the legend AETERNITAS extended in waves across subsequent years, with certain dies remaining in use well into the 140s. The throne and peacock motif formed an essential early phase of this long-running program, introducing the core theological concepts that would later be expanded into standing personifications of Aeternitas, Pietas, and Ceres.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

Silver denarii of Diva Faustina, including RIC 353b, achieved enormous commercial velocity and longevity throughout the Roman Empire. Archaeological excavations and hoard analyses show that Faustina's posthumous denarii circulated far beyond Italy, appearing extensively along the northern frontiers in Britannia, Germania, and Raetia, as well as in the eastern provinces. Due to their consistent silver content, these denarii were readily accepted across diverse markets. Hoard evidence from sites such as the Shapwick Villa hoard in Britain and the Reka Devnya hoard in Bulgaria demonstrates that Antonine consecration issues remained in active monetary pools for decades, frequently surviving in hoards deposited during the Severan period and the third-century crisis. Many surviving specimens show moderate to heavy wear, indicating decades of daily transactions before final concealment or withdrawal from circulation.

References

1. Diva Faustina: Coinage and Cult in Rome and the Provinces. pp. 37-54
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 312-325
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 58-60
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Antoninus Pius 353b. Type record ric.3.ant.353b
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 70, no. 353b
6. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Antoninus Pius. pp. 95-102