The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Diva Faustina I, wife of Antoninus Pius
Aureus after 141, AV 7.27 g. DIVA – FAVSTINA Draped bust r. Rev. AETE – R – NITAS Fortuna standing l., holding globe in r. hand and rudder in l. C 5. BMC A. Pius 359. RIC A. Pius 348. Calicó 1747.
In exceptional state of preservation. An absolutely perfect Fdc
Provenance
William H. Williams Collection sold by Numismatica Ars Classica, auction 31 (”An American Collector”), Zurich, 26 October 2005, lot 52.

Faustina the Elder was the wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. She was born into a consular family and was a blood relation of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian (for instance, Hadrian’s wife, Sabina was her maternal aunt). She and Antoninus Pius married sometime between A.D. 110 and 115, and from all accounts had a devoted relationship. Of her four children, only a daughter, Faustina II, survived to see her parents on the throne.
After her husbands’ elevation to the throne, the Senate accorded Faustina the title of Augusta. As empress, she was highly respected and known for her charity, beauty and wisdom. She died shortly into the reign of her husband, sometime in late A.D. 140. Pius, who was clearly devoted to her memory, had the Senate deify her and dedicate in her honor a temple in the Roman Forum. The Senate also authorized gold and silver statues of her, including one which would appear in the circus drawn in a covered wagon (carpentum) by elephants, which served as inspiration for a very rare coin type within her abundant posthumous coinage. Other types that featured predominantly on her posthumous coinage were the temple of Diva Faustina, the peacock (representing the goddess Juno), Juno, Aeternitas, Ceres, Concordia, Fortuna, Pietas and Vesta.