Faustina II Silver Denarius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711

Monetary Context and Dynastic Propaganda

The accession of Marcus Aurelius and his adoptive brother Lucius Verus in March AD 161 inaugurated Rome's first collegiate imperial administration. The stability of this new joint principate was reinforced almost immediately by dynastic fortune. On August 31, AD 161, Empress Annia Galeria Faustina, known to modern scholarship as Faustina the Younger, gave birth to male twins: Commodus, who would ultimately survive to rule Rome, and Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, who died in early childhood around AD 165. The birth of twin sons provided the regime with immediate proof of imperial fertility and succession security, themes that were urgently advertised through the silver coinage. Within the Antonine monetary system, the silver denarius served as the backbone of daily commerce, state disbursements, and military pay. The issue of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 functioned as both high-velocity money and an empire-wide propaganda medium. By placing the newly born heirs on a sacred pulvinar, the imperial monetary authorities communicated that the gods had blessed the imperial house with an enduring line of succession, signaling the renewal of the Golden Age across Roman territory.

Production, Minting, and Metrology

All regular imperial denarii of this type were produced at the central mint in Rome. During the early 160s AD, the Rome mint operated multiple officinae dedicated to strikings for Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, Faustina the Younger, and later Lucilla. Production of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 adhered to the metrological standards instituted in the later years of Antoninus Pius and maintained at the opening of Marcus Aurelius's reign. Denarii of this period were struck from carefully alloyed silver blanks with an average target weight ranging between 3.20 and 3.40 grams, though normal metallurgical variation and subsequent wear frequently yielded individual weights between 2.80 and 3.50 grams. Chemical and metallographic analyses of Antonine silver reveal an average silver purity hovering between seventy-five and eighty percent, prior to the slight debasements undertaken later in Marcus Aurelius's reign to fund the Marcomannic Wars. Blanks were struck hot between hardened iron dies aligned predominantly in the twelve o'clock or six o'clock die axis orientations typical of the Rome mint.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 presents a refined right-facing portrait bust of Faustina the Younger. As the daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder, Faustina II occupied an unmatched position of hereditary prestige. Her portraiture on this issue captures her mature styling following the accession of Marcus Aurelius. The empress is depicted bare-headed, with her natural hair dressed in soft horizontal waves that sweep back across the head into a braided chignon or bun pinned securely at the nape of the neck. She is portrayed draped, with fine folds of the stola and palla visible around the shoulders and collarbone. The portrait style eschews divine attributes such as stephanes or diadem bands, emphasizing instead her regal poise, maternal dignity, and classicizing elegance according to the artistic conventions established by the Rome engravers during this period.

Reverse Iconography: The Pulvinar and the Imperial Twins

The reverse iconography of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 is both distinct and charged with religious significance. It portrays a pulvinar, a cushioned sacred couch or throne traditionally employed in the Roman ritual of the lectisternium, where statues or attributes of the deities were set out for public veneration. The pulvinar is draped with ornate fabric that falls in decorative swags and folds between its turned legs. Resting comfortably on the thickly cushioned top are two infant boys, depicted facing one another or slightly outwards. These infants represent the newly born imperial twins, Commodus and Antoninus. By seating the newborn imperial children upon a pulvinar, the die engravers drew directly upon sacred conventions to indicate divine blessing, ritual protection, and semi-consecrated status while the children were yet living. The scene translates a complex theological and political statement into an immediate visual motif of family continuity.

Epigraphy and Legends

The epigraphic program of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 is concise and balanced. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, rendered continuously in a clockwise arc along the border. The legend omits the filiation formula (such as 'AVGVSTI PII FILIA') that had characterized her earlier issues under Antoninus Pius, confirming her status as reigning Augusta alongside Marcus Aurelius. The reverse legend bears the inscription SAECVLI FELICIT, an abbreviation of 'Saeculi Felicitas' ('The Felicity of the Age' or 'Happiness of the Era'). This legend directly interprets the reverse image: the birth of healthy male twins ensures an unbroken dynastic succession, thereby fulfilling the highest civic aspiration of the Roman state. The lettering is cleanly cut in classical Roman square capitals with minimal serifs, executed within a finely beaded outer border.

Typology, Dating, and Variations

In the standard reference classification of Roman Imperial Coinage, this denarius is catalogued as RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711. Its companion bronze issues comprise matching sestertii and middle bronzes bearing equivalent types (such as RIC III 1665). The introduction of the type can be firmly dated to late AD 161 following the birth of Commodus and Antoninus on August 31 of that year. While OCRE records a broader theoretical chronological envelope of AD 161 to 176 corresponding to the span of Faustina's title under Marcus Aurelius until her death and consecration, numismatists recognize that the issue was struck primarily during the earliest years of the reign, most intensively between AD 161 and 165 before the premature death of the young Antoninus. Minor stylistic variations occur across the dies, particularly in the rendering of the pulvinar frame, the arrangement of drapery folds, the precise spacing of the reverse legend, and slight shifts in the contours of Faustina's coiffure.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Impact

Denarii of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711 entered widespread circulation across the Roman Empire and remained in active use for several generations. Hoard evidence from Roman Britain, the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the Mediterranean provinces demonstrates that second-century denarii struck between the reigns of Trajan and Commodus maintained circulation velocity well into the third century AD. As later emperors, particularly Septimius Severus and Caracalla, debased the silver currency, the higher-purity silver denarii of Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius were progressively hoarded or melted down. Surviving specimens show a spectrum of physical preservation, ranging from uncirculated hoard coins that preserve fine die polish to heavily worn pieces that circulated through the Severan and crisis periods. The high survival rate of the type attests to both the substantial original volume of production and its effectiveness as an enduring dynastic document.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 403-404, nos. 136-139
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 711
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 272, no. 711