Faustina the Younger Denarius RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688

Monetary Context and Antonine Denarius Standards

The silver denarius functioned as the core accounting and circulating denomination of the Roman imperial monetary system throughout the second century AD. Under Marcus Aurelius, the imperial administration faced severe fiscal strain caused by frontier wars along the Danube, the Parthian campaigns conducted under Lucius Verus, and the demographic devastation of the Antonine Plague. These pressures prompted adjustments to precious metal coin output and standards. During the reign of Antoninus Pius, the denarius maintained an average weight of roughly 3.35 to 3.40 grams with a silver purity approaching seventy-nine to eighty percent. Under Marcus Aurelius, financial requirements caused subtle adjustments; the mean target weight hovered around 3.20 to 3.30 grams, and trace element analyses demonstrate occasional debasement to seventy-five percent fineness or slightly lower across the late 160s and 170s AD. Despite these incremental shifts, the denarius preserved strong public trust and universal legal tender status throughout the Mediterranean basin. Imperial women occupied a fundamental position in this monetary program. Issues struck for living empresses were not token donatives or subsidiary issues; they circulated as full value denominations alongside the coinage of the emperors. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 was struck within this mainstream denominational framework, supplying the empire with standardized transactional currency that reinforced civic, religious, and dynastic confidence.

Production, Technology, and Mint Attribution

Numismatic scholarship uniformly attributes RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 to the principal imperial mint situated at Rome. While provincial silver cistophori and eastern denarius issues were produced during specific military campaigns in the East, the standardized Latin silver denarii for Faustina the Younger emanated from the capital workshops. The mint of Rome operated organized officinae that managed die preparation, metal assaying, blank preparation, and manual striking. Denarius flans were cast in molds or cut from poured silver rods, heated, and struck between hand-held upper dies and anvil-mounted lower dies. Die axis orientation for this issue typically centers at six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting the mechanical alignment practices maintained by the Rome moneyers. Die cutting displays high artistic proficiency, capturing subtle variations in bust drapery folds, hair waves, and mythological attributes. The volume of surviving dies suggests an extensive production run across several calendar years rather than a single commemorative striking. The metallurgical uniformity of the alloy and the consistency of the epigraphic lettering reflect centralized state supervision, adhering to the production protocols of the urban Roman mint during the Antonine period.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 presents a right-facing bust of Faustina the Younger. She is depicted bare-headed, wearing draped garments that gather across the shoulders and neckline in naturalistic folds. Her hair is rendered in the distinctive Antonine court fashion: deeply waved horizontal tresses frame the temples and are gathered into an elaborate braided bun or chignon positioned at the back of the head. In modern specialist literature, such as the chronological studies of Wolfgang Szaivert and Paul Strack, Faustina's hairstyles serve as primary diagnostic criteria for establishing relative dates of issue. The hairstyle appearing on RIC 688 represents one of her later coiffures, often designated as her sixth or seventh distinct stylistic arrangement, which she adopted during the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus and retained into the 170s AD. The facial features exhibit classical idealization tempered by individual likeness, featuring a prominent straight nose, full lips, and large eyes. The obverse field is uncluttered, allowing the plastic volume of the bust to command attention and emphasizing the dignity expected of the mother of the imperial heirs.

Reverse Iconography: Juno and the Peacock

The reverse design depicts Juno, the foremost goddess of the Roman Capitoline triad, standing draped and veiled facing left. In her outstretched right hand, she holds a patera, a shallow libation dish used in ritual sacrifices, symbolizing religious piety and continuous divine supplication. In her left hand, Juno holds a tall sceptre resting vertically against the ground, the universal attribute of regal majesty and celestial sovereignty. Standing beside her feet at the lower left is a peacock, the bird sacred to Juno in classical Greco-Roman tradition, shown standing in profile facing left or turned slightly toward the deity. Juno Regina was the supreme protectress of Roman matronae, lawful wedlock, and childbearing. For an empress who bore at least thirteen children, including the future emperor Commodus and Lucilla, Juno served as the ultimate celestial model. While issues honoring Venus celebrated beauty and generative love, and those depicting Fecunditas emphasized prolific childbearing, the Juno type emphasized majesty, matrimonial fidelity, and dynastic stability. The solemn depiction of the veiled goddess linked the domestic integrity of the palace to the divine protection shielding the Roman state during turbulent decades.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The epigraphic program of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 is notable for its conciseness and classical restraint. The obverse legend reads FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, curving clockwise around the bust, beginning at the lower left and terminating at the lower right. Unlike her earlier coinage struck under her father Antoninus Pius between AD 147 and 161, which regularly read FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG PII FIL, the accession of her husband Marcus Aurelius simplified her public styling. As Augusta and reigning empress, Faustina required only her personal name and supreme imperial title. The reverse legend consists of the single divine name IVNO, inscribed across the upper fields or flanking the standing figure. The absence of additional titles, votive references, or consular dates simplifies the message while presenting a timeless religious invocation. The lettering is rendered in clean Roman square capitals with sharp serifs, executed by skilled die cutters at the Rome mint. By omitting restrictive temporal formulas, the mint ensured that dies could remain in active production without becoming obsolete at the conclusion of an annual consular or tribunician term.

Typology, Die Variations, and Chronological Placement

Within the standard reference framework of The Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 is catalogued under the lifetime issues struck for Faustina the Younger during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The broad date window spans from AD 161, the year of Antoninus Pius's death and Marcus Aurelius's elevation, to the winter of AD 175 or 176, when Faustina died at Halala in Cappadocia. Szaivert, in his systematic study of the coinage of Marcus Aurelius (MIR 18), refined the chronology of Faustina's issues by categorizing her evolving hairstyles. The particular wavy hairstyle with the braided bun on RIC 688 began appearing circa AD 161 to 163 and remained in use through the early 170s AD. Die studies demonstrate subtle varieties within the type, including variations in the fullness of drapery, the angle of the sceptre, the exact posture of the peacock, and minor line breaks in the legends. RIC 688 is catalogued separately from related reverse variants, such as RIC 687, where the peacock is omitted, and RIC 689, which bears the expanded reverse legend IVNO REGINA. After Faustina's death in late AD 175, all lifetime types bearing FAVSTINA AVGVSTA ceased, replaced by the posthumous consecration series reading DIVA FAVSTINA PIA.

Hoard Evidence and Circulation Life

Denarii of Faustina the Younger, including RIC 688, achieved wide circulation and maintained exceptional longevity in currency. Major coin hoards recorded across Britain, France, Germany, the Danube provinces, and Italy frequently contain high numbers of lifetime denarii of Faustina II. Notable deposits, such as the Falkirk Hoard from Scotland and the Shapwick Villa hoard from Somerset, illustrate that mid-second-century denarii remained in active circulation long after the Antonine era. Because Marcus Aurelius maintained a higher silver fineness than the later Severan emperors, denarii of the Antonine period were steadily hoarded or subjected to wear rather than being quickly culled. Many surviving specimens of RIC 688 display considerable circulation wear, confirming that they moved through commerce for decades, sometimes circulating into the mid-third century AD until the severe inflation and debasements of the barracks emperors permanently drove older Antonine silver from daily transactions. The durable presence of these coins across military encampments and civilian markets ensured that the visual ideology of the Antonine imperial family remained familiar to generations of provincial subjects.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 248-261
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 399-401
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688. Type ric.3.m_aur.688
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 269, no. 688
5. Die Münzprägung des Kaisers Marcus Aurelius (Moneta Imperii Romani 18). Series 18, Faustina II