Faustina jr - FECVNDITAS sestertius (N2164)

Faustina Junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius.  Orichalcum sestertius (22.71 gm, 31 mm). Rome, 160-161 AD. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bust draped right / FECVND AVGVSTAE S C, Faustina as Fecunditas standing left between two girls, and holding two infants in her arms. BMCRE 902. Cohen 96. RIC 1635. Green patina.  fine. The sestertius commemorates the birth of a fourth surviving child, a fourth daughter, to Faustina and Marcus Aurelius. The tallest girl, on ground at right, is Lucilla, later to marry Lucius Verus. The same childbirth is celebrated with a similar type on dated aurei and bronze coins of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Caesar. This type is wrongly catalogued under Marcus Aurelius in BMC and RIC.