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ANA Signature Sale 3094  19-20 Aug 2021
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Lot 32046

Estimate: 15 000 USD
Price realized: 25 000 USD
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Faustina Junior (AD 147-175/6). AV aureus (19mm, 7.04 gm, 5h). NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style. Rome, AD 149-152. FAVSTINAE-AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust of Faustina Junior right, seen from front, hair waved and braided into double bun coiled at back, held in place with pearl hair band / VE-NVS, Venus standing facing, head left, apple in outstretched right hand, left hand resting on grounded rudder. RIC III (Antoninus Pius) 515a. Calicó 2094 (same dies). Struck from dies of exquisite style on bright, lustrous flan.

From the Monaco Collection. Ex Golden Gate Collection (Heritage Auctions, Auction 3056 Denver ANA, 3 August 2017), lot 30038

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 years old 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.

https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-faustina-junior-ad-147-175-6-av-aureus-19mm-704-gm-5h-ngc-choice-auand-9733-5-5-5-5-fine-style/a/3094-32046.s?type=CoinArchives3094

HID02906262019

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Estimate: 15000-20000 USD
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