Triton XVIII, Lot: 892. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CYPRUS, Uncertain. Diva Faustina Senior, with Galerius Antoninus. Died AD 140/1 and before AD 138, respectively. Æ (28mm, 9.84 g, 12h). Struck AD 147 or later. ΘЄA ΦAY–CTЄINA, draped bust of Diva Faustina right / M [ΓA]ΛЄPI[OC ANTωNINO]C AYTOKPATOPOC ANTωNINOY YIOC, bareheaded and draped bust of Galerius Antoninus right. Overbeck, Galerius 6; Parks 22; Vagi 1517; Lindgren III 940. Near VF, dark green and brown patina.

From the R.A.M. Collection.

This issue raises three important questions. The first regards where it was minted. While the general consensus assigns it to a Cypriot mint, alternative suggestions include an uncertain Cretan or Balkan mint or Rome. The second question regards its date. If the obverse legend for this coin follows the pattern set at Rome, then this coin had to be struck no earlier than AD 147, when the DIVA FAVSTINA obverse legend was instituted. The third question regards the purpose for which it was struck. Galerius Antoninus was the natural son of Antoninus Pius and Faustina Senior. When he had died before his father had been made Caesar, Hadrian compelled Antoninus Pius, now without a son, to adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as his heirs. In AD 147, Faustina Junior, Antoninus Pius' only surviving daughter, was created Augusta upon her marriage to Marcus Aurelius. In the flurry of issues struck to commemorate this event and the formation of a new dynasty, it is quite possible that this issue was struck to commemorate the young boy's premature death and posthumously include him in the new imperial scheme.