Faustina the Younger Silver Denarius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the co-rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, extending through the sole reign of Marcus Aurelius, the denarius maintained its longstanding role as the primary silver denomination of Roman daily transactions, military disbursements, and state administrative expenditures. Denarii minted for the imperial women, notably Faustina the Younger, held the identical legal tender status and intrinsic precious metal value as those bearing the Emperor's name and portrait. The coinage struck in the name of Faustina Augusta was produced in considerable quantities to disseminate imperial ideological themes centered on feminine virtus, imperial fertility, divine protection, and dynastic stability. In the economic environment of the 160s and 170s AD, silver coinage of this weight and purity operated alongside the gold aureus, brass sestertius, and bronze fractional denominations, forming a coherent multi-tiered monetary system that sustained both local market commerce and interregional commerce across the provinces.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

The production of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674 took place exclusively at the imperial capital mint in Rome, which was organized into distinct officinae or working workshops. Although workshop marks do not appear on silver denarii of this epoch, stylistic coherence across die groups indicates structured supervision and well-regulated engraver cohorts within the capital establishment. The denarius during this phase of Marcus Aurelius's principate was struck to a theoretical weight standard of approximately one ninety-sixth of a Roman pound, yielding an average weight range between 3.20 and 3.40 grams, with individual specimens fluctuating based on flan preparation tolerances. The alloy composition consisted of refined silver alloyed with copper, maintaining an average fineness hovering around seventy-five to eighty percent silver. Die axes typically exhibit either upright or inverted vertical alignments, conforming to normal Antonine striking conventions.

Obverse Portraiture and Artistic Typology

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674 displays a draped bust of Empress Faustina the Younger facing right. The imperial portrait is bare-headed, rendered without a stephane or diadem, emphasizing an intimate and naturalistic imperial presence. Her hair is artfully styled into regular horizontal waves undulating across the temple, brought back tightly over the ears, and gathered into a rounded, coiled chignon or bun pinned at the rear of the skull. This coiffure represents one of the later diagnostic hair arrangements identified in the studies of Wolfgang Szaivert and Klaus Fittschen, widely employed after the accession of Marcus Aurelius in AD 161. The drapery wraps around the base of the neck and shoulders in soft classical folds, exemplifying the high technical refinement achieved by the engravers of the Rome mint during the Antonine golden age.

Reverse Iconography of Diana Lucifera

The reverse features the goddess Diana Lucifera standing left, clad in a long, draped stola. In both hands, held transversely across her torso, she grasps a long ignited torch that illuminates the night. Diana, traditionally the maiden goddess of the hunt and wild spaces, assumed the cultic epithet Lucifera as an astral bringer of light, often associated with the lunar cycle. For Roman matrons and the empress, Diana Lucifera shared strong ideological overlap with Diana Lucina, the divine protector of childbirth and female transitions. The iconography on this denarius directly commemorated the fertility of Faustina, who bore at least thirteen children during her marriage to Marcus Aurelius. The torch held across the body symbolized nocturnal watchfulness, safe delivery in childbirth, and continuing celestial favor bestowed upon the imperial household.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The legends on this issue are concise, reflecting standard post-161 AD imperial formulaic protocols. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, curving clockwise along the border from lower left to lower right. By presenting simply the Empress's maternal nomen and her highest constitutional title Augusta, granted upon the birth of her first child in AD 147, the inscription avoids complex titular abbreviations while remaining instantly recognizable across diverse linguistic populations of the empire. The reverse legend DIANA LVCIF represents an abbreviation of Diana Lucifera. The epigraphy displays clean, well-proportioned Roman capital letters with distinct serifs. Die cutters executed these inscriptions within neat circular outer beaded borders, occasionally showing minor variations in letter spacing or legend breaks depending on die carving layout.

Typology, Chronological Placement, and Variants

In the cataloguing structure of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume III, this type is catalogued as Marcus Aurelius 674, categorizing it among the lifetime denarius issues produced for Faustina Augusta between AD 161 and late AD 175 or early 176, when she passed away at Halala in Cappadocia. While RIC III broadly assigns these issues across the entire joint and sole reign of Marcus Aurelius, specialized chronological studies by Wolfgang Szaivert in MIR 18 narrow the production period of this specific Diana Lucifera variant based on Faustina's evolving hairstyle typologies and hoard evidence, placing its primary output in the middle to late 160s AD. Minor engraving variants exist within the type, chiefly concerning the exact angle at which Diana holds the transverse torch and the micro-details of the drapery folds, but the fundamental iconographic schema remains tightly consistent across verified specimens.

Circulation History and Hoard Context

Denarii of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674 enjoyed extensive circulation throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire. Because the silver standard of the Antonine era remained reasonably stable until the debasements initiated during the Severan period, Faustina's denarii circulated actively alongside both older Trajanic and Hadrianic silver and contemporary Aurelian issues. Significant quantities of this type have been documented in major military and civilian coin hoards across Britannia, Germania, the Danubian limes, and the Mediterranean basin. Hoard wear patterns indicate that many specimens continued to circulate for several decades after Faustina's death, surviving in currency pools up to the mid-third century crisis before extensive silver debasement finally led to their complete hoarding or remelting.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 531-532
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 269, no. 674
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 674
4. Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Marcus Aurelius nebst Antoninus Pius für Marcus Aurelius und Faustina die Jüngere (MIR 18). Series 18, Faustina II