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!
Aureus - Augustus AVGVSTVS, Heifer
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 26 BC - 14 AD |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A heifer (young cow) stands in right profile, rendered in high relief with the head slightly raised and erect, conveying a sense of vitality and careful artistic execution. The animal's musculature and hooves are depicted with naturalistic precision, reflecting the accomplished die-cutting of the Augustan mint. The legend AVGVSTVS is inscribed above the heifer in raised Latin capitals, arching along the upper periphery of the field. The type is associated with the religious imagery of Augustan propaganda, possibly evoking sacrificial rites or agrarian piety central to the restored Roman order. A border of raised dots frames the entire reverse design. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Calicó 172 places this issue within Augustus's early imperial coinage, a period when the aureus was being systematically standardized at 40 to the Roman pound — a deliberate policy break from the heavier Caesarian issues. The heifer type is associated with the religious and political program of renewal Augustus constructed around the ludi saeculares of 17 BC, in which heifers were among the animals sacrificed to Juno as part of the three-day ceremony.
Agrippa and Maecenas coordinated much of the propaganda surrounding that event. The aureus was its hardest currency.