This issue belongs to the Roman monetary reform of 23 BC, under which Augustus reorganized the bronze coinage and delegated its production to a board of junior magistrates — the tresviri monetales. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, whose name this coin bears, was by 7 BC long dead, having died in 12 BC. The appearance of his name on coinage issued years after his death reflects posthumous commemoration of Augustus's closest general and son-in-law, whose political importance the emperor clearly had no interest in letting the public forget.
This issue belongs to the Roman monetary reform of 23 BC, under which Augustus reorganized the bronze coinage and delegated its production to a board of junior magistrates — the tresviri monetales. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, whose name this coin bears, was by 7 BC long dead, having died in 12 BC. The appearance of his name on coinage issued years after his death reflects posthumous commemoration of Augustus's closest general and son-in-law, whose political importance the emperor clearly had no interest in letting the public forget.