Denarius - Augustus AVGVSTVS, Aurora

This issue belongs to the great Augustan recoinage of 18–17 BC, driven by the reorganization of the Roman mint system following Augustus's assumption of direct control over provincial silver production. The Aurora reverse type connects to the broader program of religious and cosmic imagery Augustus deployed to frame his rule as a new dawn — though the specific political trigger was almost certainly the coinage reforms tied to his return from the East in 19 BC and the recovery of the Parthian standards, an event exploited aggressively across multiple die types of this period.