Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature Sale 3042 17-18 Sep 2015
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Faustina Junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius (Augusta, AD 147-175). AV aureus (19mm, 6.64 gm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, circa AD 154-157. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / AVG-VSTI PII FIL, Diana standing left, holding arrow in right hand and bow in left. RIC (Antoninus) 494a. Calicó 2040a. BMCRE (Antoninus) 1096. With a charming portrait. A few mineralized deposits. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5.Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger was born in about AD 129 to the Antoninus Pius and his wife, Faustina the Elder. When Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian as his successor in AD 138, the emperor arranged for her betrothal to Lucius Verus, also about eight, the son of the "heir consumptive" Aelius Caesar, who had died the same year. When Antoninus inherited the throne, he broke the engagement and instead betrothed her to his nephew (and adoptiove son) Marcus Aurelius. The couple were wed in AD 145 and went on to produce at least 13 children, of which only three or four survived to adulthood, among them the future emperor Commodus. Faustina seems to have been a fun-loving spirit in the mold of her mother, which earned her the disapproval of staid Roman historians. Marcus Aurelius, after he became emperor in AD 161, spent long years on campaign, which must have strained the relationship. There were rumors of adulteries with soldiers, sailors and gladiators, which do not seem to have altered her husband's devotion to her. The lifetime coinage of Faustina started at the time of her marriage and continued over 30 years, showing her from a fresh-faced princess to a mature matron, and providing a pageant of Roman feminine hairstyles over that span.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD
Faustina Junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius (Augusta, AD 147-175). AV aureus (19mm, 6.64 gm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, circa AD 154-157. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / AVG-VSTI PII FIL, Diana standing left, holding arrow in right hand and bow in left. RIC (Antoninus) 494a. Calicó 2040a. BMCRE (Antoninus) 1096. With a charming portrait. A few mineralized deposits. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5.Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger was born in about AD 129 to the Antoninus Pius and his wife, Faustina the Elder. When Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian as his successor in AD 138, the emperor arranged for her betrothal to Lucius Verus, also about eight, the son of the "heir consumptive" Aelius Caesar, who had died the same year. When Antoninus inherited the throne, he broke the engagement and instead betrothed her to his nephew (and adoptiove son) Marcus Aurelius. The couple were wed in AD 145 and went on to produce at least 13 children, of which only three or four survived to adulthood, among them the future emperor Commodus. Faustina seems to have been a fun-loving spirit in the mold of her mother, which earned her the disapproval of staid Roman historians. Marcus Aurelius, after he became emperor in AD 161, spent long years on campaign, which must have strained the relationship. There were rumors of adulteries with soldiers, sailors and gladiators, which do not seem to have altered her husband's devotion to her. The lifetime coinage of Faustina started at the time of her marriage and continued over 30 years, showing her from a fresh-faced princess to a mature matron, and providing a pageant of Roman feminine hairstyles over that span.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD