Fertility of the Empress
Faustina Junior. Augusta, AD 147-176. AV Aureus (17mm, 7.37 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 161-176. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust left / FECVNDITA-TI AVGVSTAE, Fecunditas seated right on chair, holding child on lap; child standing to left and right. RIC III 682 (Aurelius); MIR 18, 13-2a; Calicó 2055 (this coin illustrated); BMCRE p. 399 note. EF. Calicó Plate Coin.
As observed by Eckhel in Doctrina Nummorum Veterum, “Faustina Junior proved her fecundity beyond any question by the number of her children.” This aureus shows Fecunditas, possibly Faustina herself, with three children---one of the earliest of Roman coins to boast of female fertility. On similar iconographical types of other denominations, she appears with as many as 4-6 children, lending further support to the idea that it is Faustina rather than Fecunditas, as she is known from her biography to have had more than six children.
