A new MATRI MAGNAE denarius of Faustina II

[curtislclay]

Faustina II's MATRI MAGNAE type, struck late in her life since it occurs with a coiffure that was to continue on her coins as Diva, is unusual for appearing in two variants differing according to the denomination.

The recorded DENARIUS type (see image below) shows Cybele seated left on a seat without back, with a veil over the back of her head in addition to her usual turreted crown, holding a branch in her r. hand and resting her l. elbow on a drum, while one lion sits by the side of her seat.  This type was struck in moderate volume, being neither notably rare nor particularly common: it was represented by 33 specimens in the Reka Devnia hoard, for example, where Faustina's commonest type had no fewer than 311 specimens.

On AUREI, SESTERTII, and MIDDLE BRONZES, in contrast, Cybele sits right not left, her throne has a back, she wears no veil, she rests her r. elbow on an arm rest and holds nothing in that hand, while balancing her drum on her l. knee with her l. hand.  One lion sits in full view beside her throne as in the denarius type, but the snout of a second lion sitting on the other side is also seen protruding from behind her legs.  An aureus and a sestertius from CoinArchives are shown below.

I recently acquired what seems to be the first recorded denarius, 3.43g, 12h, see fourth image below, that instead of using the denarius version of the type simply follows the gold and bronze coins: Cybele seated r., throne with back, no veil, r. arm on arm rest and drum balanced with l. hand, snout of second lion protruding from behind legs.

My coin is clearly struck from proper denarius dies, which by this time were always smaller and less fine than aureus dies.  It therefore cannot be explained as being a mere erroneous strike in silver from dies that were actually meant for aurei.  Instead this type must have been intentionally struck in silver too, though apparently only in very low quantity.

[Rupert]

Congratulations to this important acquisition Curtis! You might even have had me as a competitor for this coin, because I saw it on sale but thought "oh well, a Matri Magnae denarius, they're not that rare" and also didn't have much time, so I didn't look it up. As usual in these cases, I'm glad that, if I didn't get it, it's in good hands, hands maybe even better than mine.

Rupert

[mix_val]

Interesting indeed.  Nice find.  The reverse of aureus looks very similar to the reverse of the denarius (except for the difference in die diameter) so likely made by the same person.  What is the standard diameter of an aureus? 

[curtislclay]

Martin Griffiths alerts me to a specimen of the Cybele seated left denarius type in which her throne does have a back, currently on VCoins, where the right half of throne back is misinterpeted as an "eagle tipped sceptre."   So this detail is not a constant differentiator between the two variants.

In many other seated-deity types too I have noted that the throne back is sometimes shown, sometimes omitted, apparently at the mere whim of the engraver.

As to mix_val's question: the MATRI MAGNAE aureus illustrated in BMC is 20 mm broad, while the denarius illustrated there is 17 mm in diameter.