(100) Antoninus Pius - AV aureus, A.D. 146-161, 7.30 g. (inv.
91.182).
Obverse: Draped bust of Faustina the Younger l.; FAVSTINA AVG(VSTA) PII
AVG(VSTI) FIL(IA): Faustina Augusta, daughter of Pius Augustus.
Reverse: Dove r.; CONCORDIA: Concordia.
Provenance: Münzen und Medaillen, 1984.
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage
III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 503.
Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder
and wife of Marcus Aurelius, was a refined and elegant woman doted upon
by her father and her husband. Both men honored her on their coins. It is
assumed that the coins whose legends identify her as the daughter of Antoninus
were issued by him and that those that do not use his name were issued by
Marcus Aurelius.
Many marble portraits of Faustina survive, and the portrait on the obverse
of this coin issued by Antoninus has the elaborate hairstyle of her youthful
portraits, parted in the center, waved around the face, and braided into
a bun at the back. Concordia, the concept of peace and harmony, is represented
by a dove on the reverse.
K.L.M.
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