Posthumous consecration issue struck for Empress Faustina Senior at the Rome Mint by her devoted husband Emperor Antoninus Pius, 138-140/1 CE.
RIC 1155,12.18g.
Certified by NGC to Ch VF (light scratches, well blended not significantly distracting).
Pedigree: Ex. Empire Coins, Auction #6, 11/11/86, lot 389 (includes action ticket and photos used in catalog.
Obverse: DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right.
Reverse: AETERNITAS, Juno standing left raising right hand and holding scepter.
Juno was the Roman Goddess who protected the nation as a whole but also kept special watch over all aspects of women's lives.
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (auctoritas) of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the early Principate of Augustus.A deceased emperor held worthy of the honor could be voted a state divinity (divus, plural divi) by the Senate and elevated as such in an act of apotheosis. The granting of apotheosis served religious, political and moral judgment on Imperial rulers and allowed living Emperors to associate themselves with a well-regarded lineage of Imperial divi from which unpopular or unworthy predecessors were excluded.