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 CAESAR AVGVSTVS OCS, Medusa
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 19 BC - 4 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
| 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 civic oak wreath (corona civica), awarded to Augustus ob cives servatos (for saving the citizens), occupies the central field, rendered with finely detailed acorns and leaves tied at the base. Flanking the wreath on either side are two upright laurel branches, their berried stems curving gracefully outward. Within the open centre of the wreath appear the letters OCS in relief. The encircling Latin legend CAESAR AVGVSTVS runs around the periphery within a beaded border, invoking Augustus's preeminent titles. |
| 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 |
The Medusa-shield aureus belongs to a sequence of issues associated with Augustus's Spanish and Gallic mint — almost certainly Lugdunum — active from around 15 BC onward to supply the Rhine armies. The shield type itself references the clipeus virtutis, the golden shield voted to Augustus by the Senate in 27 BC honoring his virtus, clementia, iustitia, and pietas. That shield hung in the Curia Julia; putting its aegis imagery on gold coinage broadcast the honor to the legions spending it.
RIC I 302 is a notably scarce number within the Augustan gold sequence.