Aureus - Augustus IMP XII ACT, Apollo

Struck in the years immediately following Augustus's settlement of the East, this aureus belongs to a series tied to the IMP XII imperatorial acclamation — likely awarded in connection with military operations in the Alpine and Danubian regions around 15–11 BC. The Apollo association was anything but decorative for Augustus: he had claimed the god as his personal patron since at least Actium, and the Temple of Apollo Palatinus, dedicated in 28 BC adjacent to his own residence, made that relationship architecturally permanent in Rome's religious geography.

RIC I 192A is among the less frequently encountered varieties of this broad Augustan aureus output, which was produced at the Lugdunum mint following the transfer of western gold and silver striking from Rome.