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RIC 1146A of Faustina I

Faustina Senior Æ sestertius. DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / PIETAS AVG S-C, Pietas standing, head left, sacrificing over altar to left, holding box of incense. Cohen 240.

Lot No.3108. gFine. 32mm, 30 grams.

$ 375.

Faustina Senior died in 141 AD, after her husband had reigned for only three years, so most of her coinage is posthumous, issued over the next 20 years of Antoninus' rule.

Although later Roman historians criticised Faustina Senior for an allegedly frivolous nature, in contrast with the grave dignity of her husband Antoninus, Antoninus seems to have greatly loved and sincerely mourned his wife, whom he deified after her death in 141 AD, and honored her with the most extensive coinage for a Roman Empress.