Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ26 - Augustus ΚΑΙΣΑΡ
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 19 BC - 4 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Bare head of Augustus facing right, rendered in a naturalistic Hellenistic portrait style typical of Alexandrian provincial coinage. The emperor's hair is depicted in short, layered locks arranged across the forehead. The legend ϹΕΒΑϹΤΟϹ appears in the field, the Greek equivalent of the Latin title Augustus. The portrait is boldly struck and centrally placed within the flan. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ϹΕΒΑϹΤΟϹ (Translation: Augustus) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Alexandria's civic bronze coinage under Augustus occupied an unusual administrative niche: Egypt was not a senatorial province but the personal property of the emperor, governed by a prefect of equestrian rank rather than a senator — a deliberate Augustan policy to keep its enormous grain revenues out of the hands of the Roman aristocracy. The mint at Alexandria operated accordingly, producing a Greek-language imperial coinage entirely distinct from the Roman system, with denominations calibrated to local Egyptian monetary tradition rather than the Roman denominational structure.
The Greek spelling ΚΑΙΣΑΡ rather than the Latin CAESAR marks this as issued for a population whose administrative language remained Greek three centuries after Alexander's conquest.