Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 80 4 Feb 2021
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Diva Faustina II (wife of M. Aurelius) Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 175-176. DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, draped bust to right / SIDERIBVS [REC]EPTA, Faustina as Diana, standing to right, with crescent at shoulders, holding long torch in both hands; S-C across fields. RIC III 1715 (Aurelius); C. 215; MIR 18, 64-6/10; Banti 120; BMCRE 1584 (Aurelius). 17.01g, 29mm, 12h.
Good Very Fine. Scarce.
From the Vitangelo Collection.
Falling ill whilst accompanying her husband Marcus Aurelius in journeying to the East, the passing of Faustina II was marked on the coinage with a series of 'Consecration' issues in the usual types, but also with the unusual legend we see on the present piece. Faustina is depicted here as Diana Lucifera ("the Bringer of Light") carrying a lit torch, illuminating the scene of her entry into the afterlife. That Faustina would be received into the firmament, and that the people of Rome and the Empire would appreciate the fact, was clearly very important to Marcus Aurelius as this coin proudly proclaims that she had indeed been 'Received by the Stars'.
Good Very Fine. Scarce.
From the Vitangelo Collection.
Falling ill whilst accompanying her husband Marcus Aurelius in journeying to the East, the passing of Faustina II was marked on the coinage with a series of 'Consecration' issues in the usual types, but also with the unusual legend we see on the present piece. Faustina is depicted here as Diana Lucifera ("the Bringer of Light") carrying a lit torch, illuminating the scene of her entry into the afterlife. That Faustina would be received into the firmament, and that the people of Rome and the Empire would appreciate the fact, was clearly very important to Marcus Aurelius as this coin proudly proclaims that she had indeed been 'Received by the Stars'.