Silver Denarius of Antoninus Pius, 3.58 g.
Title
Silver Denarius of Antoninus Pius, 3.58 g.
Creator
Antoninus Pius
Date
after 141 CE
Description
Obverse: Draped and diademed bust of Faustina the Elder facing right; DIVA AVG(VSTA) FAVSTINA: Divine Faustina Augusta.
Reverse: Antoninus seated facing left on platform with woman beside him on his right; both lean forward to receive girl held forward by man standing facing right; in front of platform, a man rushes forward, extending another girl; PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE: the girls of Faustina.
Style/Period: Roman Empire
The most interesting feature of this coin is its reverse, which refers to the Puellae Faustinianae or the Girls of Faustina, the charity that Antoninus Pius established in memory of his wife, Faustina the Elder, after her death in 141 CE. The charity was to provide for the poor girls of the city. The figures on the coin would be Antoninus and with him probably Faustina receiving the little girls who are to be the recipients of their charity.
The portrait on the obverse depicts Faustina with her hair braided and piled on top of her head, as in no. 98, but her face on this coin appears thinner and more youthful. Here she also wears a diadem.
-- Kathleen L. Metzger Newmyer, LU '94
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 399a.
The portrait on the obverse depicts Faustina with her hair braided and piled on top of her head, as in no. 98, but her face on this coin appears thinner and more youthful. Here she also wears a diadem.
-- Kathleen L. Metzger Newmyer, LU '94
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 399a.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased from Edward Gans, Aug. 7, 1959. Ex Morgan collection.
Identifier
91.174
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Roman, Empire, Antoninus Pius, Faustina the Elder, girl
Files
Citation
Antoninus Pius, “Silver Denarius of Antoninus Pius, 3.58 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/284.