Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3066 17 Aug 2018
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Faustina Junior, daughter of Antoninus Pius (Augusta, AD 147-175/6). AV aureus (18mm, 7.27 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Rome, AD 149-152. FAVSTINAE-AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust of the young Faustina Junior right, seen from front, hair waved and rolled into double bun coiled at back, wound through with band of pearls and held in place with hair band / V-E-NVS, Venus standing facing, head left, apple in right hand, rudder in left, around which a dolphin is entwined. RIC III (Antoninus Pius) 517c. Calicó 2097d. Deeply struck in high relief from dies of exquisite style.
The younger Faustina is here presented as a princess (a term derived from the Latin princeps, "first man"), having just been named Augusta (Empress) by the Senate as an homage to her father, Antoninus Pius. In this role she replaced her mother, Faustina Senior, who had died in AD 141. She was about 20 at the time of her elevation and had been married to Marcus Aurelius Caesar, the heir apparent, for four years. The die engraver, an artist of exceptional talent, has captured her in the full bloom of her youth and beauty, with an elegant hairstyle that would be closely copied 15 centuries later by the ladies of the Napoleonic court. The reverse figure of Venus is also beautifully modeled, with her voluptuous curves quite evident beneath her voluminous stola; the dainty manner in which she holds the apple also shows the engraver's eye for telling detail.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
Faustina Junior, daughter of Antoninus Pius (Augusta, AD 147-175/6). AV aureus (18mm, 7.27 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Rome, AD 149-152. FAVSTINAE-AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust of the young Faustina Junior right, seen from front, hair waved and rolled into double bun coiled at back, wound through with band of pearls and held in place with hair band / V-E-NVS, Venus standing facing, head left, apple in right hand, rudder in left, around which a dolphin is entwined. RIC III (Antoninus Pius) 517c. Calicó 2097d. Deeply struck in high relief from dies of exquisite style.
The younger Faustina is here presented as a princess (a term derived from the Latin princeps, "first man"), having just been named Augusta (Empress) by the Senate as an homage to her father, Antoninus Pius. In this role she replaced her mother, Faustina Senior, who had died in AD 141. She was about 20 at the time of her elevation and had been married to Marcus Aurelius Caesar, the heir apparent, for four years. The die engraver, an artist of exceptional talent, has captured her in the full bloom of her youth and beauty, with an elegant hairstyle that would be closely copied 15 centuries later by the ladies of the Napoleonic court. The reverse figure of Venus is also beautifully modeled, with her voluptuous curves quite evident beneath her voluminous stola; the dainty manner in which she holds the apple also shows the engraver's eye for telling detail.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD