Watch List notes:

JDL Collection Part II: Roman Coins
THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

In the name of Faustina II, died at the beginning of summer(?) 176. Struck by Marcus Aurelius, March 7, 161 - March 17, 180.

Sestertius, Rome 161–176, Æ 23.31 g.
Obv. FAVSTINA - AVGVSTA Draped bust of Faustina II right, hair fastened in bun and ornamented with two bands of pearls.
Rev. IVNONI - REGINAE / S - C Veiled Juno standing facing, head left, holding patera in right hand and leaning left hand on long sceptre; in left field, at her feet, peacock; border of dots.
Literature
Cohen 142
BMC RE IV, 533, 919, pl. 73, 4
RIC III, 346, 1651
Banti 79
M.-M. Bendenoun, Coins of the Ancient World, A portrait of the JDL Collection, Tradart, Genève, 2009, 68 (this coin)
Condition
Green patina and about extremely fine.

Provenance
Maison Platt, Paris, March 1982, lot 533.
Though the origins of Juno, a deity sacred to women, are surprisingly obscure, she was destined to become the chief female deity of the Roman pantheon. On this sestertius of Faustina Junior she is shown as Regina ('Juno the Queen'), a fitting tribute to the wife and sister of the supreme god Jupiter. Since Republican times her worship had been widespread, and in imperial times she became a regular subject for coins issued for empresses. By celebrating Juno as the chief female deity, Marcus Aurelius uses this type to draw a parallel between the goddess's status in the heavens and his wife's unrivaled place among mortals.
In her guise as Regina, Juno was a member of the Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Minerva. The triad assumed the highest place in the Roman pantheon and was represented by a famous sculptural group housed in the Capitolium, its temple on the Capitoline Hill. In addition, there were at least two temples in Rome dedicated solely to Juno Regina, including one on the Aventine Hill and another in the Circus Flaminius. The former was the first, dedicated in 392 B.C. by M. Furius Camillus, who had vowed to build a temple for Juno when he had
sought her favor during a siege of Veii. The Aventine temple, which had as its centerpiece a wooden cult statue of Juno that Camillus had taken at Veii, was dedicated on September 1, the festival day for the goddesses.
Standing at Juno's feet is a peacock, her animal familiar, being the equivalent of Jupiter's eagle and Minerva's owl. This stately bird earned the admiration of Greeks and Romans alike. Upon reaching India Alexander the Great was so impressed with the variety and beauty of the bird's plumage that he forbade killing them under the severest penalty. Though the Romans also held the peacock in high esteem, they had no objections to eating the bird or its eggs. Indeed, the only surviving text on Roman cookery, the 4th Century A.D. De re coquinaria of Apicius, offered advice on how to prepare peacock, along with other types of birds such as duck, goose, chicken, pheasant, squab, partridge, turtle dove, wood pigeon, heathcock (woodcock), thrush, figpecker, crane, flamingo and ostrich.