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!
Denarius - Augustus AVGVSTVS
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 27 BC - 14 AD |
| 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 | 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) | RIC I#542, OCRE#ric.1(2).aug.542 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A Capricorn, the zodiacal symbol personally favored by Augustus as his birth sign and an emblem of his destiny and divine favor, is depicted in right profile, its goat foreparts and fish tail rendered in fine relief. Above the creature, a six-pointed or eight-rayed star occupies the upper field. The legend AVGVSTVS is inscribed along the lower portion of the field in bold Roman capitals, referencing the honorific title granted to Octavian by the Senate in 27 BC. The composition is contained within a circular border, and the overall design reflects the propagandistic use of celestial and astrological imagery in Augustan coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | AVGVSTVS (Translation: Augustus.) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Augustus inherited a Roman mint system in chaos — the civil wars following Caesar's assassination had produced an anarchic flood of coinage from multiple competing commanders, each striking on their own authority. The Augustan reform, enacted around 23 BC, restructured the entire monetary hierarchy, fixing the denarius as the backbone of a rationalized system that would persist largely unchanged for two centuries. RIC I 542 belongs to the Lugdunum mint series, struck in Gaul to pay the Rhine legions — proximity to the frontier, not Rome, drove the decision.