Faustina the Younger Silver Denarius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669

Monetary Context and Dynastic Representation

During the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, which began in AD 161, and the subsequent sole reign of Marcus Aurelius, imperial coinage continued to serve as the primary vehicle for mass public communication and fiscal distribution. The denarius was the preeminent silver denomination of the Roman Mediterranean, struck in enormous quantities to finance state administration, civic distributions, and extensive military campaigns along the Danube and the eastern frontiers. Within this monetary system, coin issues struck in the name of the Augusta, Faustina the Younger, occupied a crucial position. Faustina, daughter of Antoninus Pius and empress consort of Marcus Aurelius, held the title of Augusta from AD 147 until her death in late AD 175 or early AD 176. Her coinages were not ornamental medals but fully integrated components of the silver circulation pool. By issuing silver denarii under her authority, the imperial court emphasized dynastic stability, continuity, and the divine protection of the imperial household. In particular, the invocation of Ceres aligned the fertility of the empress, who bore at least thirteen children, with the agricultural prosperity of the Roman state and the stability of the imperial grain supply (annona).

Production, Minting, and Weight Standards

The denarii catalogued as RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669 were produced exclusively at the central imperial mint in the city of Rome. Production involved the standard ancient technique of hot strike between hand-carved intaglio bronze or iron dies. The flans were cast individually in open or two-part molds and struck while heated to achieve sharp relief of the intricate bust and mythological reverse. Metallurgical analyses of mid-Antonine silver conducted by Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting demonstrate that under Marcus Aurelius, the denarius maintained an average weight between 3.20 and 3.40 grams, though individual surviving specimens exhibit variations due to production tolerances and circulation wear. The alloy composition during the AD 160s and 170s underwent subtle, controlled debasements, shifting from an initial fineness of roughly 78 to 80 percent silver down to approximately 74 to 76 percent silver, reflecting the severe fiscal strains caused by the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars. Despite these metallurgical adjustments, the mint maintained strict visual quality controls, and the high-relief dies cut for the Augusta showcase the sophisticated artistry characteristic of second-century Roman imperial engravers.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669 presents a right-facing, draped bust of Faustina the Younger without a diadem or stephane. Her hair is arranged in a classic Antonine style, swept backward from the forehead in crimped or rippling waves that cover the upper portion of the ear and are gathered securely at the nape into a coiled chignon. This coiffure represents one of the later mature hairstyles adopted by the empress during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, departing from the earlier, more elaborate braided crowns favored during the principate of Antoninus Pius. The drapery is rendered with naturalistic folds over the shoulders, terminating cleanly along the truncation line. Engravers at Rome carefully balanced the realistic, mature features of the empress with an idealized, serene expression appropriate for the mother of the imperial heirs. Die variations within this catalogue type display minor differences in the exact volume and placement of the bun, the number of wavy strands etched across the temples, and the spacing of the letters around the rim.

Reverse Iconography: Ceres and the Cista

The reverse iconography depicts the goddess Ceres seated facing left upon a cylindrical cista, a sacred chest or basket intimately associated with mystery cults and agrarian harvest rituals. Ceres is fully draped in a stola and veil, embodying maternal modesty and divine majesty. In her extended right hand, she holds two ears of wheat or corn, signaling the bounty of the harvest and the abundance promised to Rome by the reigning dynasty. In her left hand, which rests near her side, she holds a long torch upright or tilted slightly, recalling her mythological search through the underworld for her daughter Proserpina. The inclusion of the cista, rather than a conventional backless stool or curule chair, introduces an explicit sacral dimension, referencing both the Eleusinian mysteries and traditional Roman domestic religion. By placing the goddess upon the cista, the design subtly equates the Augusta with the divine nurturer, suggesting that the imperial peace fostered under Marcus Aurelius guaranteed physical sustenance and divine favor for the Roman populace.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The epigraphic structure of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669 is notable for its deliberate brevity. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, inscribed continuously or broken by the upper edge of the portrait head. The title Augusta, awarded to Faustina upon the birth of her first child in AD 147, served as her permanent imperial designation throughout her life. The absence of familial patronymics, such as the earlier Antonini Augusti Filia, confirms that the coin belongs to the period of her husband's reign rather than her youth under Antoninus Pius. The reverse legend consists solely of the single nominative noun CERES, positioned in the upper field or running along the left and right peripheries. The lack of standard administrative or tribunician formulae, such as TR P or COS, is standard for imperial women, who did not possess magisterial or tribunician power. The neat, classical Roman square capitals employed across both faces reflect the standardized calligraphic conventions of the Rome mint during the late Antonine era.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

In the standard reference corpus The Roman Imperial Coinage (Volume III), Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham classified this issue as number 669 under the coinage struck for Faustina the Younger during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Detailed chronological analyses of Faustina's hairstyles, conducted by Wolfgang Szaivert in Moneta Imperii Romani (MIR 18) and further refined by Martin Beckmann through die linkage studies, place this mature hair style primarily within the AD 160s and early AD 170s. The type was struck alongside related silver issues that celebrated dynastic deities including Juno, Venus Genetrix, and Fecunditas. While earlier twentieth-century catalogues grouped all lifetime issues into broad chronological bands between AD 161 and 176, modern numismatic research correlates specific die groups with key imperial events, such as the birth of imperial twins in AD 161 and the elevation of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Struck prior to Faustina's sudden death in winter AD 175 or early 176 at Halala in Cappadocia, RIC 669 is distinct from the subsequent, post-consecration DIVA FAVSTINA issues characterized by pyres, peacocks, and eternity motifs.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669 enjoyed an expansive geographical circulation that spanned from Roman Britain and the Rhine-Danube frontier provinces to North Africa and the Levant. Hoard evidence from across the Roman Empire illustrates that mid-Antonine silver denarii remained in active, heavy circulation throughout the late second century AD and well into the third century. Discoveries such as the vast Reka Devnia hoard in modern Bulgaria, alongside numerous British and continental coin hoards, reveal that denarii of Faustina II were routinely retained in private savings and military purses alongside those of Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus Pius. Because these coins maintained substantial silver purity relative to the severely debased issues of the later Severans, they were often hoarded preferentially under Gresham's Law. Consequently, many specimens preserved in modern collections show moderate to heavy wear from decades of hand-to-hand exchange, while uncirculated examples reflect temporary storage in hoards deposited during the political and military disruptions of the late Antonine or Severan periods.

References

1. The Coinage of Faustina the Younger. Chapters 4-5
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Septimius Severus. pp. 235-260
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Severus Alexander. pp. 397-400
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 669. ric.3.m_aur.669
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 268, no. 669
6. Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161-192), MIR 18. Series 16-20