Faustina the Elder: Silver Denarii Under Antoninus Pius

Historical Context

Faustina the Elder, or Faustina I, appears on silver denarii issued under her husband Antoninus Pius. The survey must distinguish coinage produced while she was alive from issues commemorating her as a deified member of the imperial family. The supported scope begins with lifetime denarii from 138 CE and includes posthumous types catalogued within the remainder of Pius's reign, ending in 161. This is not a claim of uninterrupted striking in every intervening year.

The contrast is visible in the subjects. Lifetime Concordia designs invoke harmony, while the posthumous title DIVA FAVSTINA and legends such as CONSECRATIO and AETERNITAS connect the portrait with deification and enduring remembrance. Commemorative coins are still issues of an imperial administration; Faustina is the person honoured, not a ruler issuing money after death.

Posthumous production should not be compressed into a single funeral year. Documented denarii include a broad 141-161 range and a Ceres issue dated 147-161. These attributions establish a wider commemorative horizon without requiring a precise annual sequence for every design.

The resulting series is broader than a single Ceres reverse. Concordia, torch-bearing Ceres and the throne-and-peacock image offer different approaches to the Augusta's public identity. Their relationship lies in the named imperial woman and the issuing reign, not in an assumption that each design records the same ceremony.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The regular arrangement in the documented comparisons is a draped bust facing right. Faustina's elaborate coiffure is particularly distinctive: waved hair is drawn upward and coiled on top of the head. The hairstyle belongs in the description alongside direction and drapery, but does not by itself determine whether an issue is lifetime or posthumous.

Veiled and unveiled portrait treatments occur among the posthumous comparisons. In the AETERNITAS throne-and-peacock family, RIC III 353a is documented with an unveiled draped bust, while 353b has a veiled draped bust. This is a concrete example of a catalogue distinction carried by the obverse even though the reverse theme remains the same.

A veil should be identified as cloth covering the head, not assumed from the outline of a high coiffure or from a darkened surface. Similarly, drapery over the shoulder does not amount to a veil over the head. An attribution that omits this distinction may select the right reverse family but the wrong bust variant.

The portrait's facial expression is not a reliable substitute for titulature. An apparently youthful or solemn face need not define a chronological phase. For comparative work, observable features such as hair arrangement, head covering and bust direction are more useful than an unsupported sequence from naturalistic to idealized portraits.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

Lifetime titulature links Faustina's name and Augusta status with Antoninus Augustus. The documented Concordia group includes a longer formula naming both, with P P referring to the emperor's title Pater Patriae, 'Father of the Fatherland'. These words express a dynastic relationship; they do not give Faustina the emperor's offices or turn her into an independently reigning Augustus.

DIVA FAVSTINA is a different status formula: 'the deified Faustina'. DIVA supplies the positive inscriptional evidence for a posthumous issue. FAVSTINA uses the Latin V where a modern spelling writes u. A transcription may retain the ancient letter forms while a translation renders the name as Faustina.

The shorter posthumous formula need not be assigned to a precise year from its wording alone. It occurs on several different reverse families, so a matching obverse can encompass different types and catalogue date ranges. A legend sequence proposed in scholarship requires appropriate evidence before it becomes a calendar for every silver issue.

Letter loss also matters. A partly readable FAVSTINA is not equivalent to a confirmed DIVA FAVSTINA; the lost portion may contain precisely the status information needed. Description and expansion should remain distinct. A responsible attribution records the readable letters first, then states any supported completion rather than silently inserting a preferred phase.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

Concordia provides a lifetime family with more than one composition. She can appear seated with a patera and a cornucopia beside the throne, or standing and leaning against a column with a patera and double cornucopia. The bowl, support and horn arrangement distinguish the designs; a broad label such as 'female figure left' loses information needed for classification.

Torch-bearing Ceres is prominent in the documented posthumous comparisons. Under AVGVSTA, she extends her right hand and carries an almost upright torch in her left. A different CONSECRATIO comparison has her right hand raised and a short torch in her left. Differences in gesture and torch length should be described rather than merged into one universal Ceres design.

AETERNITAS also accompanies a composition without a standing goddess: a draped, ornamented throne with a transverse sceptre and a peacock before it. The symbolic ensemble matters as a whole. A peacock beside a throne should not be transformed into a bird carrying the empress, nor into a standalone bird type, unless the actual design supports that reading.

These comparisons show why a reverse legend is not always a literal name tag for the main figure. AVGVSTA is a title, CONSECRATIO names deification, and AETERNITAS expresses eternity. Identification still depends on attributes and composition. A named religious theme cannot replace the visual description of the particular reverse.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

CONCORDIA AVG combines the name of Concordia with an abbreviated imperial association. Concordia means harmony or concord. The imagery of the bowl and cornucopia complements that message, but the legend does not specify a marriage anniversary or date the coin to a particular domestic event.

CONSECRATIO means consecration, here referring to the honouring of a deified imperial person. It is not restricted to one design: a reverse should not be classified as a peacock or funeral-pyre type simply because this word is legible. The documented Ceres composition is a useful warning against that shortcut.

AVGVSTA is Augusta, an imperial title. On a reverse paired with DIVA FAVSTINA, it does not establish that Faustina was alive when the coin was issued. Status is determined from the combined inscriptional and administrative context, not from the isolated appearance of Augusta.

AETERNITAS means eternity or enduring existence. Its use with a throne, sceptre and peacock evokes commemoration through symbols rather than a numbered date. CERES, where securely read, directly names the goddess; that word must not be substituted for AVGVSTA or CONSECRATIO simply because a torch-bearing figure appears. Preserving the actual legend is essential even where several designs share an agricultural or religious subject.

Typology and Documented Variants

The following documented groups illustrate the denomination's lifetime and posthumous breadth.

• Lifetime Concordia standing, RIC III Antoninus Pius 329: Rome, 138/139; draped Faustina I bust right; Concordia leaning against a column, with patera and double cornucopia. The type is distinct from seated Concordia.
• Lifetime Concordia seated: Rome, 138; seated figure with patera and cornucopia beside the throne. This composition must be distinguished from the standing Concordia type.
• Posthumous Ceres under CONSECRATIO, RIC 382a: Rome under Antoninus Pius; DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right; Ceres left, hand raised and short torch. A single-year catalogue date does not date every Ceres issue.
• Posthumous Ceres under AVGVSTA: Rome, catalogued 147-161; DIVA FAVSTINA; standing Ceres with extended hand and torch. This is not the same inscription as CERES.
• Posthumous AETERNITAS throne and peacock, RIC III 353a and 353b: Rome, after 141; the distinction in the documented comparisons is unveiled versus veiled draped bust.

The practical classification sequence is denomination, named person, status formula, reverse legend, composition and bust variant. Each step can eliminate superficially similar alternatives. This is particularly important where catalogue numbers also exist in other denominations or where one reverse theme spans several arrangements. A family-level attribution is preferable to an exact number that depends on an unread head covering or object in the figure's hand.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Chronology must be handled at the level of evidence actually studied. Beckmann's published account of the temple imagery explains a die-link chain in Faustina's gold coinage and its implications for dating changes in that series. It is not, by itself, a demonstrated die chain for all her denarii. A precise date assigned to an aureus cannot simply be carried over to a silver reverse with a related image.

Likewise, '141 and later' is an open chronological attribution, not a claim that every coin was struck during 141. Broad catalogue ranges and proposed relative sequences answer different questions. Neither proves continuous output, an exact terminal year for an individual type, or that every new legend commemorated a specific anniversary.

Rome is documented for these denarius families. An origin, collection location or later findspot is not mint evidence and cannot establish production at Milan. At the same time, a verified Rome parallel does not automatically resolve the mint and exact subtype of every incompletely identified coin.

Silver is a material description, not a measured fineness. No universal weight interval, purity percentage or production volume follows from these records. The principal remaining classification problem is often much narrower: whether the legend and surviving attributes support a particular Ceres arrangement or bust variant. Keeping that question explicit preserves useful knowledge without converting a plausible comparison into a confirmed attribution.

References

1. University of Augsburg: Faustina Maior denarius, RIC III 329. ID207; Rome, 138/139; lifetime Faustina I under Antoninus Pius; Concordia leaning on column with patera and double cornucopia.
2. British Museum: Lifetime denarius of Faustina I. 1978,0314.2; Rome, 138; silver denarius with seated Concordia, patera and cornucopia beside the throne.
3. Museums Victoria: Posthumous denarius for Faustina the Elder. NU 22848; Rome, Antoninus Pius; DIVA FAVSTINA / CONSECRATIO, Ceres with short torch; RIC 382a. Catalogue dates the issue 141 and separately describes Faustina's death as late 140.
4. London Museum: Faustina the Elder denarius with Ceres. N385; Rome, 147-161; DIVA FAVSTINA / AVGVSTA, Ceres extending right hand and holding torch left.
5. Ashmolean Museum: Faustina I denarius, RIC III 353a. HCR92176; Rome, post-141 under Antoninus Pius; DIVA FAVSTINA / AETERNITAS, draped throne, transverse sceptre and peacock.
6. Ashmolean Museum: Veiled Faustina I denarius, RIC III 353b. HCR92178; Rome, post-141; veiled draped bust and AETERNITAS throne/peacock reverse.
7. British Museum: Faustina I denarius, RIC III 382b. R.13192; Rome, 141-161, Antoninus Pius; RIC III 382b; draped bust right; veiled Ceres extending hand and holding torch.
8. American Numismatic Society Magazine, Spring 2012: The Temple of Faustina. Martin Beckmann, discussion of the aureus die-link chain and temple chronology; the die analysis concerns gold rather than a complete denarius sequence.