Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire

Faustina I, wife of Antoninus Pius. Diva Faustina. Aureus after 141, AV 7.20 g. DIVA – FAVSTINA Draped bust r., hair waved and coiled on top of head. Rev. AETER – NITAS Hexastyle temple containing seated figure of Faustina I. C 64. BMC A. Pius 383. RIC A. Pius 354. Calicó 1755.
Extremely rare and possibly the finest specimen known. A very interesting and
finely detailed reverse composition. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc

From the Giuseppe Mazzini (1883-1961) Collection, bought by Mario Ratto (Milan). Ex Tkalec sale 28 February 2007, Bolla, 42.

The daughter of consul and prefect Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina, Faustina the Elder married Antoninus Pius between AD 110 and 115, before he became emperor in AD 138. They appear to have had a happy marriage, producing four children including Faustina the Younger and another daughter and two sons, all except Faustina the Younger dying before their father's elevation. When Faustina the Elder died in AD 140, Antoninus Pius was grief stricken and took several steps to publicly honor her memory.
He arranged for the Senate to declare her deification, as indicated by the obverse legend of this aureus. Here the wife of the emperor is not named as Faustina Augusta as in life, but as Diva Faustina - the Divine Faustina. Gold and silver statues of the new goddess were also placed in prominent locations, like the spina of the Circus Maximus and in the Forum, and a charity for orphaned girls (the puellae Faustinianae) was established in her name. The most impressive honor paid by Antoninus Pius to his dead wife was the foundation of a new temple dedicated to the cult of the Diva Faustina.The temple is depicted on the reverse of this aureus as it looked around AD 150. By this time, its original appearance as seen on the dedication coinage of AD 141 had been modified. An ironwork fence was added, apparently to keep the crowds from the Forum from gathering on the steps or possibly to protect the building from defacement - ancient graffiti has been detected on the surviving columns. The cult statue of the divine Faustina is now clearly visible between the columns. She appears to hold a staff in her left hand and an elongated object in her right, the latter perhaps a phoenix on a globe which would of course refer to her divine apotheosis.