Gold aureus of empress Faustina the Younger (Faustina Minor), wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius
This coin depicts the empress Faustina the Younger (Annia Galeria Faustina, known as Faustina Minor), wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and daughter of the emperor Antonius Pius and the empress Faustina the Elder. She is in profile, facing right, and wearing her traditional hairstyle of scalloped curls around her face, with a braid wrapped around her head. An inscription reads: FAVSTINA AVG PII AUG FIL, which means "Faustina August, Daughter of Emperor (Augustus) Pius". The inscription served as a form of propaganda, linking the empress to her imperial father and promoting her position within the ruling family
The aureus was an ancient Roman gold coin, issued from around the 1st century BCE up to the 4th century CE. One aureus was worth 25 silver denarii. The denarius was a small silver coin and the principal silver coin issued in the ancient Roman currency system from the late 3rd century BCE until the early 3rd century CE.
The use of the portrait is the most persistent and usually the most striking feature of coins of the Roman Empire. Particularly during the first three centuries of the Empire's existence (27 BCE-284 CE) images of historically recorded (and some unrecorded) people appear on the majority of coins.
Roman coins acted as a vehicle for the quick and wide-reaching spread of propagandic images of Imperial power, at the centre of which was the embodiment of Rome and all that its Empire stood for, the Emperor himself. Roman coins survive in very large numbers and are frequently found right across Europe, reaching the furthest corners of the Empire.
Roman, ca. 145-161 CE, gold.
Getty Villa Museum, on loan from Dr. Keith M. Barron
Gold aureus of empress Faustina the Younger (Faustina Minor), wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius
This coin depicts the empress Faustina the Younger (Annia Galeria Faustina, known as Faustina Minor), wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and daughter of the emperor Antonius Pius and the empress Faustina the Elder. She is in profile, facing right, and wearing her traditional hairstyle of scalloped curls around her face, with a braid wrapped around her head. An inscription reads: FAVSTINA AVG PII AUG FIL, which means "Faustina August, Daughter of Emperor (Augustus) Pius". The inscription served as a form of propaganda, linking the empress to her imperial father and promoting her position within the ruling family
The aureus was an ancient Roman gold coin, issued from around the 1st century BCE up to the 4th century CE. One aureus was worth 25 silver denarii. The denarius was a small silver coin and the principal silver coin issued in the ancient Roman currency system from the late 3rd century BCE until the early 3rd century CE.
The use of the portrait is the most persistent and usually the most striking feature of coins of the Roman Empire. Particularly during the first three centuries of the Empire's existence (27 BCE-284 CE) images of historically recorded (and some unrecorded) people appear on the majority of coins.
Roman coins acted as a vehicle for the quick and wide-reaching spread of propagandic images of Imperial power, at the centre of which was the embodiment of Rome and all that its Empire stood for, the Emperor himself. Roman coins survive in very large numbers and are frequently found right across Europe, reaching the furthest corners of the Empire.
Roman, ca. 145-161 CE, gold.
Getty Villa Museum, on loan from Dr. Keith M. Barron