Struck under the moneyer Gaius Marius, one of three tresviri monetales appointed that year — junior magistrates whose tenure as mint officials was a standard rung on the cursus honorum. The attribution to a descendant of the famous general of the same name is tempting but unverified; the family connection, if real, would have carried considerable political weight during Augustus's careful reconstruction of Republican-era institutions as theater.
13 BC was also the year of Agrippa's return from the East and the dedication of the Ara Pacis, a moment of calculated dynastic messaging in which even routine coin issues participated.
Struck under the moneyer Gaius Marius, one of three tresviri monetales appointed that year — junior magistrates whose tenure as mint officials was a standard rung on the cursus honorum. The attribution to a descendant of the famous general of the same name is tempting but unverified; the family connection, if real, would have carried considerable political weight during Augustus's careful reconstruction of Republican-era institutions as theater.
13 BC was also the year of Agrippa's return from the East and the dedication of the Ara Pacis, a moment of calculated dynastic messaging in which even routine coin issues participated.