Faustina Friday – The CERES Standing Sestertius of Faustina the Elder with a Veiled Bust

[Roman Collector]

Friday felicitations, fellow Faustina fanatics! I hope you have a coin-filled weekend ahead. Good luck at the auctions! Today we'll explore a scarce variety of one of the last sestertii issued for Faustina the Elder, the CERES type of 160-161 CE. I have previously discussed this issue, so I won't repeat a discussion of the dating or iconography of the issue here. Rather, I'm going to examine a specific variety of this coin, the sestertius with a veiled bust portrait type. I recently acquired a specimen of this variety, illustrated below.

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.60 g, 31.2 mm, 11 h.
Rome, 160-161 CE.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, veiled and draped bust, right.
Rev: CERES, Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears and long torch.
Refs: RIC 1128(b); BMCRE 1528; Cohen 139; Banti 45; Cayon 56; Strack 1273; RCV 4621.

The coin is certainly well-attested in the numismatic literature. After an extensive review of the print literature and online databases, I inventory the known specimens below.

Museum Specimens
 

• Bibliothèque Nationale De France (Cohen 139; cited by RIC and Strack)
• British Museum (BMCRE 1528; cited by Strack)
• Staatliches Münzkabinett, Munich (Cited by Strack)
• National Museum, Naples

Auction Specimens
 

• iNumis (Mail Bid Sale 9), 23.10.2009, lot 154
• Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. (Electronic Auction 144), 26.7.2006, lot 318 = CGB 739830
• Cayón p.491, 56 = P & P Santamaria, Rome (Magnaguti IV), 23.10.1951
• CGB.fr (Internet Auction January 2024), 23.1.2024, lot 880179
• Nomisma S.p.A. (E-Live Auction 35), 19.4.2024, lot 110 (my coin)
• Sternberg (Sale 28), 30.10.1995, lot 114 = Lanz (Auction 76), 18.5.1996, lot 569 = Sear 4621

Other specimens cited in the literature (from which I have no illustration or citations and may duplicate others listed above)
 

• Banti 45
• Fonds Bourgey, L'Empire Romain, tome 2, no. 421

Of these 10+ coins, I have been able to find photos of eight of them and it is readily apparent that they were all struck from the same obverse die.

British Museum, BMCRE 1528.

Bibliothèque Nationale De France, Gauthier-Dussart, Pl. 102, no 1718.

Nomisma S.p.A. (E-Live Auction 35), 19.4.2024, lot 110 (my coin).

CGB.fr (Internet Auction January 2024), 23.1.2024, lot 880179.

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. (Electronic Auction 144), 26.7.2006, lot 318 = CGB 739830.

iNumis (Mail Bid Sale 9), 23.10.2009, lot 154.

Sternberg (Sale 28), 30.10.1995, lot 114 = Lanz (Auction 76), 18.5.1996, lot 569 = Sear 4621.

P & P Santamaria, Rome (Magnaguti IV), 23.10.1951 = Cayón p.491, 56.

With eight specimens all struck with the same die and no other dies known, the probability of a second obverse die with a veiled bust used for this issue is far less than 1% (see this interesting formula by @Rand . The coin in my collection was struck with the same reverse die as that in the Bibliothèque Nationale De France, and the Cayón and Sear plate coins share a common reverse die as well. The other four reverse dies are unique, for a total of six different reverse dies. This indicates that the veiled bust type was used alongside dies intended for use with the bare-headed bust type, which is a phenomenon Martin Beckmann has demonstrated by his die-linkage study throughout the production of coins for Diva Faustina the Elder. For this reason, I see the veiled bust type as a variety, not as a separate issue.

Portraits with a veiled bust type are also known for the aureus and denarius denomination, but not for the medium bronze.

Do you have any specimens of this CERES standing reverse type? Let's see them! As always, please post comments, coins, or anything you feel is relevant.

Edited May 17 by Roman Collector
Increase size of bifocal-defying font

[LONGINUS]

Thank you for your excellent presentation, @Roman Collector. Your posts are always enlightening and entertaining.

I just so happen to have a CERES denarius bearing a torch and fruit of the harvest. Not Faustina the Elder but none other than her charming-faced and slender-necked great-granddaughter-in-law. Although the coin suffers with flan damage, it remains a favorite of mine.

 

 

Edited May 17 by LONGINUS

[expat]

Great write-up as always and educational. The only coin I have that is vaguely similar is my avatar coin

Faustina Sr AR Denarius, RIC 361, RSC 101a, BMC 417, SEAR 4583. DIVA FAVSTINA, with elaborate hairstyle and draped bust right / AVGV-STA, Ceres standing left, long hair tied behind, raising right hand & holding long torch with left.
Rome mint, A.D. 141.  3,0 g - 15 mm

[ambr0zie]

Another example of Ceres standing a little while before Faustina. 

28 mm, 11,55 g.
Julia Titi 80-81 AD. Æ dupondius. Rome.
IVLIA IMP T AVG F AVGVSTA, bust of Julia Titi, draped, right; hair bundled high in front and wrapped in bun (sometimes small bun) in back / CERES AVGVST S C, Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears and torch.
RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 392.