Naville Numismatics Ltd.
Auction 38 11 Mar 2018
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Diva Faustina. Aureus after 141, AV 19mm., 6.47g. DIVA – FAVSTINA Draped bust r., hair coiled on top of head. Rev. AVG – VSTA Ceres, veiled, standing l., holding torch in each hand. C 75. BMC A. Pius 403. RIC A. Pius 357a. Calicó 1758.
Extremely Fine.
Ex Roma Numismatics sale XIV, 747.
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
Extremely Fine.
Ex Roma Numismatics sale XIV, 747.
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