As - Augustus P CARISIVS LEG AVGVSTI

P. Carisius served as Augustus's legate in Hispania during the Cantabrian Wars, and this issue was struck in the field — almost certainly at the Emerita Augusta mint, founded by Carisius himself around 25 BC as a settlement for veterans of those campaigns. The coin is one of a small group of aes issues produced under legionary authority rather than the central Roman mint, a brief arrangement that ended once Augustus consolidated minting control.

Carisius's name appearing on the coinage reflects the exceptional powers delegated to him during the conquest of northwestern Iberia — the last major military campaign to bring any part of the peninsula under Roman control.