Faustina II Bronze Sestertius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668

Monetary Context and Imperial Ideology

During the joint and sole reigns of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161 to 180), the sestertius remained the preeminent large-denomination base-metal coin of Roman daily commerce and state expenditure. Valued at one-quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius fulfilled an indispensable role in internal market trade, military disbursements, and urban economic life. Beyond its vital commercial utility, the generous physical surface of the sestertius offered an ideal visual medium for the dissemination of imperial ideology and dynastic messaging. In the Antonine monetary system, the Augustae held a prominent position in coinage, functioning not merely as decorative consorts but as essential embodiments of dynastic fecundity, moral virtue, and spiritual continuity. Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius, was celebrated extensively across Rome's precious-metal and aes issues. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668 belongs to an essential ideological sphere focused on the concept of Salus. In Roman religious and political thought, Salus Augusta stood for the physical health and spiritual safeguarding of the imperial family, which was understood to be inextricably tied to the peace and security of the entire Roman world. Struck against a broader geopolitical backdrop marked by devastating military challenges along the northern and eastern frontiers, as well as the debilitating impact of the Antonine Plague, issues invoking Salus Augusta provided critical psychological reassurance to the Roman populace.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668 was produced exclusively by the principal imperial mint at Rome, which held a monopoly over regular state bronze and brass coinage for the western empire. Second-century bronze denominations were struck from orichalcum, a copper-zinc alloy favored for sestertii and dupondii due to its bright golden-yellow color and superior casting properties, distinguishing them immediately from the redder unalloyed copper used for asses. Production of sestertii required substantial metallurgic and workshop capacity. Flan preparation involved casting thick circular discs, which were frequently trimmed and adjusted before striking to conform approximately to the legal weight standard. In the mid-second century AD, sestertii typically centered around a theoretical weight of roughly twenty-four to twenty-six grams, though preserved specimens across this type exhibit typical working variations between twenty-one and twenty-nine grams, with flan diameters commonly spanning thirty to thirty-three millimeters. Die orientation was predominantly arranged in a rigid or near-rigid medallic alignment or inverted alignment, conventionally close to twelve o'clock or six o'clock, reflecting the disciplined mechanical practices of the Roman mint's celatores (engravers) and signatores (strikers).

Obverse Portraiture and Stylistic Characteristics

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668 features a dignified portrait bust of Empress Faustina the Younger facing right. The bust is carefully draped in imperial dress, revealing delicate folds across the shoulder and neckline. A prominent distinguishing attribute of this issue is the elaborate coiffure, which represents a refined development in Antonine courtly fashion. Her hair is rendered in delicate, undulating waves arranged in nearly vertical registers along the temple and down the cheek, pulled smoothly back and gathered into a heavy, braided chignon set low at the nape of the neck. Faustina is crowned with a jeweled diadem or stephane resting above the brow, denoting her august rank. Mint engravers in Rome worked within established imperial portrait models, updating the empress's physiognomy as she matured across her husband's reign. This specific bust type conveys aristocratic grace, idealized composure, and serene authority, projecting a mature image of the Augusta as mother of the imperial house and symbol of traditional Roman female propriety.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of the type features Salus, the Roman divinity personifying physical wellbeing, preservation, and public safety. Salus is depicted draped in long stola and mantle, seated left upon a low stool or unadorned throne. In her extended right hand, she holds a broad patera (libation bowl), from which she feeds a sacred serpent that rises upwards in graceful coils from a cylindrical, stone altar placed on the ground before her feet. Her left arm rests casually at her side or upon the frame of her seat. This iconographic formulation combines Hellenic Asclepian motifs with traditional Roman sacrificial ritual. In ancient thought, the serpent was both an emblem of healing and regeneration and an agent of divine prophecy, intimately associated with the god Apollo and his son Asclepius. Feeding the sacred serpent directly from a ceremonial vessel constitutes an act of pious sustenance, representing the constant care provided by the imperial house to safeguard divine favor and maintain physical protection for the ruling dynasty and the empire at large.

Epigraphy and Legends

The legends on RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668 are executed in the classic, monumental Roman capital alphabet characteristic of Antonine imperial dies. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, curving clockwise around the right perimeter of the portrait. Following the death of Antoninus Pius in AD 161, coinages issued under Marcus Aurelius discontinued the earlier patronymic formula FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG PII FIL, replacing it with the simplified, authoritative title FAVSTINA AVGVSTA. The reverse bears the legend SALVTI AVGVSTAE, inscribed in the dative case to signify a dedicated offering: 'To the Salus of the Augusta' or 'For the health of the Empress'. This epigraphic construction explicitly ties the welfare of Faustina directly to the divine personification. In the left and right fields of the reverse, flanking the seated figure of Salus, appears the large abbreviation S C, denoting Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'). This formula marks the constitutional sanction of the Roman Senate, which traditionally authorized the issue and volume of base-metal bronze and orichalcum coinages in Rome.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification of The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC III), compiled by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, this sestertius is catalogued under Marcus Aurelius as type 1668 among the issues struck for Faustina II. Within the broader typology of Antonine aes, Salus reverses for Faustina occur across both standing and seated varieties, struck in gold, silver, and base metals. Detailed chronological studies, particularly the die-attribute and hoard analyses published by Wolfgang Szaivert in Moneta Imperii Romani (MIR 18), place the production of the diademed-bust, vertical-wave hairstyle issues into the middle segment of Faustina's coinage under Marcus Aurelius, broadly between AD 161 and the early 170s. Historical events during this window, such as the safe delivery of imperial children, the severe illness of Marcus Aurelius during campaigns, or the outbreak of the Antonine Plague in the mid-160s, have all been proposed by numismatists as specific historical catalysts for issues invoking Salus Augusta. Minting ceased upon Faustina's death in the winter of AD 175 or early 176 at Halala in Cappadocia, after which the mint transitioned immediately to the posthumous consecration coinage bearing the legend DIVA FAVSTINA PIA.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Recovery

As an essential base-metal denomination of the high empire, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668 circulated extensively throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire. Archaeological evidence from both urban contexts and military forts across Roman Britain, Gaul, the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and the Italian peninsula consistently documents Antonine sestertii circulating for decades after their manufacture. Because base-metal coins were not subjected to the aggressive state recalls or melting that occasionally affected debased silver denarii, sestertii of Faustina the Younger remained in commercial use well into the third century AD, frequently showing heavy surface wear, countermarking, or patination before their eventual deposition in hoards or settlement strata. Hoard distributions indicate that large bronze issues served as reliable stores of low-to-medium wealth and as the primary workhorse currency for daily institutional, military, and retail payments across the urbanized Mediterranean and European frontiers.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 540-542
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1668. ric.3.m_aur.1668
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 347, no. 1668
4. Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161-192), MIR 18. Series 21-24