Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3041 Sess. 4 13 August 2015
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Diva Faustina Senior, deified wife of Antoninus Pius (died AD 141). AV aureus (21mm, 7.26 gm, 7h). Rome, AD 141-161. DIVA FAV-STINA, draped bust of Faustina left, hair coiled atop head / AV-GV-S-TA, Fortuna standing facing, head left, holding patera in right hand and rudder set on globe in left. RIC --. BMCRE --. Cohen --. Calicó 1215a (R2) (same dies as illustrated example). Apparently a very rare variety with bust left, unrecorded in most references, in an exceptional state of preservation. NGC Choice AU★, 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Annia Galeria Faustina was born into an aristocratic Roman senatorial family of Spanish descent. Her uncle was the Emperor Hadrian. In about AD 115, she married Titus Fulvius Antoninus, a respected Senator, and through her connections he became a close advisor to Hadrian. Antoninus eventually succeeded to the throne in AD 138 and Faustina was acclaimed as Augusta, or Empress. Antoninus honored her extensively on the coinage and her vivacity, fashion sense and compassion for the poor made her beloved by the masses. Her distinctive hairstyle, with a plait wrapped in a tight coil atop her head, was copied by women throughout the Empire. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters; both male children died in infancy, but the daughters lived to adulthood and one, Faustina Junior, married Marcus Aurelius and became Augusta herself. Only two years into Antoninus' reign, Faustina died of an unknown illness. The grief-stricken Antoninus secured her deification and issued an immense coinage in her name, the largest for any Roman woman to that point. This magnificent aureus falls into the posthumous series.
Estimate: 12000-15000 USD
Diva Faustina Senior, deified wife of Antoninus Pius (died AD 141). AV aureus (21mm, 7.26 gm, 7h). Rome, AD 141-161. DIVA FAV-STINA, draped bust of Faustina left, hair coiled atop head / AV-GV-S-TA, Fortuna standing facing, head left, holding patera in right hand and rudder set on globe in left. RIC --. BMCRE --. Cohen --. Calicó 1215a (R2) (same dies as illustrated example). Apparently a very rare variety with bust left, unrecorded in most references, in an exceptional state of preservation. NGC Choice AU★, 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Annia Galeria Faustina was born into an aristocratic Roman senatorial family of Spanish descent. Her uncle was the Emperor Hadrian. In about AD 115, she married Titus Fulvius Antoninus, a respected Senator, and through her connections he became a close advisor to Hadrian. Antoninus eventually succeeded to the throne in AD 138 and Faustina was acclaimed as Augusta, or Empress. Antoninus honored her extensively on the coinage and her vivacity, fashion sense and compassion for the poor made her beloved by the masses. Her distinctive hairstyle, with a plait wrapped in a tight coil atop her head, was copied by women throughout the Empire. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters; both male children died in infancy, but the daughters lived to adulthood and one, Faustina Junior, married Marcus Aurelius and became Augusta herself. Only two years into Antoninus' reign, Faustina died of an unknown illness. The grief-stricken Antoninus secured her deification and issued an immense coinage in her name, the largest for any Roman woman to that point. This magnificent aureus falls into the posthumous series.
Estimate: 12000-15000 USD