Rare PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE Denarius

388, Lot: 433. Estimate $300. Sold for $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Diva Faustina Senior. Died AD 140/1. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.31 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, circa AD 141-146. Draped bust right / PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE, official seated left on a platform, leaning forward to hand rolled document to a young girl being held aloft toward him by a man standing before the platform; second official standing left behind the first, pointing toward the document; directly below the officials, second citizen bending to lift up second girl in order to present her to the officials. RIC III 399a (Pius); RSC 262. VF, toned, light mark on Faustina’s cheek, weakly struck on the reverse. Rare.

From the estate of Thomas Bentley Cederlind. Ex Gorny & Mosch 233 (6 October 2015), lot 2375.

The reverse of this piece commemorates the Girls of Faustina, a young women’s charity established by Antoninus in memory of his late wife.