Faustina the Younger Gold Aureus Series

Historical Context

Faustina the Younger was the daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder, and the wife of Marcus Aurelius. These relationships explain the two principal lifetime settings of her gold coinage: first as the daughter of the reigning emperor and later as his successor's wife. Her portrait on an aureus identifies the woman honored by the issue, not an independent holder of imperial sovereignty. The coins belong within the monetary administrations of Pius and Marcus.

The lifetime series is conventionally associated with her status as Augusta from the later 140s. Its imagery joins the imperial household to ideals of marriage, fertility and continuity. Children and maternal divinities made succession visible without presenting a documentary account of each birth. Gold and silver could share themes, but a reverse recorded on one denomination does not automatically establish its appearance on the other.

After Faustina's death in the mid-170s, consecration gold commemorated her deified status under Marcus Aurelius. This posthumous phase must be distinguished from the lifetime AVGVSTA issues. The broad span of the series crosses an imperial succession and a change in the honorand's status; it is not a reign of Faustina lasting until Marcus's death in 180.

Obverse: Iconographic Composition

Faustina's bust gives the aureus series its visual continuity. Drapery and carefully arranged hair frame a recognizable imperial female portrait, usually facing right. A documented left-facing aureus shows that direction was not absolutely fixed, but direction alone does not establish rarity, a presentation purpose or a special recipient.

Hairstyle, head ornaments and the treatment of the face vary. Waves, braided arrangements and the position of the rear knot provide evidence for grouping portraits and comparing dies. They cannot simply be translated into the empress's age or a calendar of court fashions. A portrait is a designed public image rather than an unmediated record of physical appearance.

Beckmann's study organizes the evidence through a portrait typology and die analysis. The system is a scholarly classification, not a set of ancient issue numbers. Its numbered types should not be assigned rigid annual boundaries without the supporting die sequence. Drapery, veiling and a diadem likewise need to be read with the legend: a divine title is stronger evidence for posthumous status than a head covering considered in isolation.

Obverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse legends express family relationships and honorific status in Latin capitals. The use of V where modern printing often uses U is a feature of the lettering, not a different personal name.

• FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL is a documented early gold formula. Expanded as Faustinae Augustae Pii Augusti filiae, it means "To Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus." Its dative case presents the wording as an honorific dedication.
• FAVSTINA AVGVSTA names "Faustina Augusta." This shorter formula is prominent in her lifetime gold under Marcus Aurelius. AVGVSTA is an imperial honorific, not evidence that she ruled as a sole emperor.
• Posthumous gold uses divine titulature. DIVAE FAVSTIN AVG MATR CASTROR is recorded on a consecration aureus. The initial DIVAE places the dedication in the deified phase; the abbreviated name and titles must be expanded as a connected phrase rather than as unrelated labels.

The differences between dative and nominative formulations matter, as do abbreviated references to her imperial father. Nevertheless, a short legend may have a long period of use. Neither the presence of a familiar formula nor the omission of filiation supplies a precise year by itself.

Reverse: Iconographic Composition

The lifetime gold draws upon several related religious and dynastic themes. The imperial household is presented as a source of continuity, while divine figures connect its welfare with established Roman cults. The same general theme can be rendered through different figures and arrangements, so identification depends on attributes as well as the inscription.

IVNONI LVCINAE accompanies a figure with an infant and two further children. The conventional identification is Juno in her childbirth-protecting aspect, although an assimilation of Faustina to the goddess has also been proposed. The imagery associates motherhood with divine protection; it does not securely name the children or reproduce a particular family gathering.

Other documented aureus reverses include Fecunditas seated with children, Salus attending a serpent, and the Great Mother seated with lions. Diana with a torch provides another distinct divine image. These types should not be collapsed into a single fertility scene or treated as proof of a specific illness, birth or ceremony.

Consecration gold changes the emphasis to commemoration after death. A monumental, tiered funerary structure appears with CONSECRATIO. Its representation belongs to the language of imperial apotheosis, not a measured architectural plan. Peacock and altar types found elsewhere in Faustina's coinage must be checked by denomination before being described as aureus variants.

Reverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscriptions can name a deity, address a divine power or announce an act of commemoration. Their grammatical forms are not interchangeable.

• IVNONI LVCINAE: "To Juno Lucina." Both words are dative; the epithet invokes Juno's association with childbirth.
• FECVNDITATI AVGVSTAE: "To the fertility of the Augusta," or a dedication to Augustan Fecundity. The wording connects the personification with the imperial household.
• SALVTI AVGVSTAE: "To the welfare of the Augusta." Translating Salus as welfare avoids assuming that every use commemorates recovery from a particular illness.
• MATRI MAGNAE: "To the Great Mother." The image of the seated goddess and her lions identifies the cultic subject as Cybele.
• CONSECRATIO: "Consecration." This nominative noun describes the commemorative theme rather than addressing a deity in the dative.
• IVNO: "Juno." The short nominative label is documented on earlier gold associated with the Pius administration.

The translation should follow the actual formula on the type being discussed. A divine name and an honorific can carry political associations without amounting to a literal record of an imperial event. The reverse and obverse together establish whether the coin honors the living Augusta or commemorates her deification.

Typology and Documented Variants

The aureus is the gold denomination within this article's scope. Its classification rests on metal, denomination and the complete design combination, not on a reverse motif alone. Rome is the documented production center for the institutional gold comparators and the focus of the major die study. No fixed fineness percentage, universal weight or annual production total follows from the iconographic classification.

These are selected groupings, not an exhaustive emission chart. A catalogue number requires agreement in denomination, legend, bust and reverse, including attributes and arrangement. Shared legends can span several variants. A broad catalogue date for one type cannot date every die or define the duration of the entire gold series.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Chronology is a central problem because Faustina's aurei do not carry a consistently changing sequence of tribunician or consular dates comparable to those on many imperial issues for men. Die links can establish relative relationships between designs, while portrait groupings offer another way to organize the material. A relative sequence is not automatically an absolute year-by-year calendar. The evidential basis for attaching a type to a particular birth or anniversary must therefore be considered separately.

The relationship between coin portraits and sculpture is equally important. A resemblance can support comparison, but it need not prove that every workshop received a single official model at the same moment. Numbered hairstyles are analytical categories; the movement from one category to another need not describe an instantaneous empire-wide change of fashion.

Maternal imagery also leaves room for interpretation. A group of children may evoke dynastic abundance without identifying named daughters and sons. Even an image plausibly related to a known event should not be treated as a complete family register. Juno and Faustina can be associated ideologically without requiring every divine figure to be a literal portrait of the empress.

Finally, the history of striking and the later life of the coins are different questions. Gold could travel, be retained and be reused after its original issue. Evidence for later movement or ornamental use does not extend the production dates of the Antonine series. Nor does the survival of unusual examples establish the relative size of the original emissions.

References

1. Martin Beckmann, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image. Numismatic Studies 43; ISBN 9780897223669.
2. Heidelberg IKMK graffiti database: Faustina Minor, aureus under Antoninus Pius. ID975; RIC III Antoninus Pius 504; FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL / IVNO; gold, Rome, catalogue range 145-161.
3. University of Osnabrueck: dossier on Marcus Aurelius and Faustina minor coin types. PDF pages 2-3: RIC 679, 692, 704 and 716; PDF page 5: posthumous gold RIC 748. The compilation includes multiple denominations.
4. British Museum: lifetime gold aureus for Faustina II under Marcus Aurelius. R.12596; RIC III Marcus Aurelius 673; gold, Rome, catalogued 161-176; Diana reverse.
5. Christian Niederhuber, Faustina the Younger: portraiture, public image, and the workings of the imperial mint. Journal of Roman Archaeology 38.1 (2025), 253-263; DOI 10.1017/S1047759425100366.
6. Aleksander Bursche, A unique aureus of Faustina II with the legend MATER CASTRORUM from a Late Roman area of hoards in the southern Baltic region. Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 7, 1_SI (2020); DOI 10.14795/j.v7i1_SI.478.