Sale: CNG 73, Lot: 1006. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 13 September 2006.  Sold For $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Fausta. Augusta, AD 324-326. Æ Follis (3.38 g, 6h). Thessalonica mint. Struck AD 318-319. Draped bust right / Eight-pointed star in laurel wreath. RIC VII 51; LRBC 824. Near EF.

The coinage of Faustina as Augusta commenced with her elevation to full imperial status in AD 324. Preceding these issues, however, was a remarkable series struck circa AD 318 at the Thessalonica mint on which both Fausta and her mother-in-law, Helena, are accorded the lesser title of Nobilissima Femina (N F). Both ladies had borne this rank for a considerable time, Helena since Constantine's elevation to imperial status in AD 306, Fausta since her marriage to Constantine in March of the following year. The significance of this anepigraphic reverse remains uncertain, though it presumably contains some reference to divine providence and destiny.