Denarius - Augustus IMP XII SICIL, Diana

The IMP XII tribunician dating places this issue firmly in 11–10 BC, a period when Augustus was consolidating religious authority alongside political power. The SICIL reverse type — associating Diana with Sicily — likely references the Sicilian grain supply, over which Augustus had extended imperial control, and may also invoke the memory of his naval victory at Naulochus in 36 BC, fought in Sicilian waters against Sextus Pompey. That battle effectively ended Pompey's stranglehold on the western Mediterranean grain routes.

RIC I 182 is not among the rarer Augustus denarius types, but survivors in fine condition are less common than mintage volumes would suggest — heavy ancient circulation took its toll on the silver coinage of this reign.