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 - Octavian IMP CAESAR, Victory
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 29 BC - 27 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.8 g |
| 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 | The goddess Victory stands facing, nearly full figure, balanced atop a globus (orb symbolizing world dominion) at the lower center of the field. She is winged, draped in a short chiton, and holds a wreath in her extended left hand while a palm frond rests in her right. Above her head she supports a military trophy or vexillum standard. The divided legend IMP to the left and CAESAR to the right flanks the central figure in the open field, rendered in bold Roman capitals. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | IMP CAESAR (Translation: Supreme commander (Imperator) and Caesar.) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Struck in the narrow window between Octavian's final military victories — the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC and the formal settlement of the principate in 27 BC — this aureus belongs to a transitional issue produced while the future Augustus was still consolidating sole power. The coins of this precise period were minted in enormous quantities, partly to pay veterans, and the gold sourced significantly from the treasure of the Ptolemaic court seized at Alexandria. Suetonius notes that so much bullion entered Rome after the Egyptian conquest that interest rates dropped sharply and property values surged.