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Denarius - Augustus S P Q R
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
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| Year | 18 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bare laureate head of Augustus facing right, rendered in fine high-relief with carefully delineated hair locks and a wreath of laurel bound about the crown. The portrait displays the classicising Hellenistic style characteristic of Augustan imperial coinage, with idealized facial features and naturalistic modelling of the neck and jaw. The surrounding legend CAESARI AVGVSTO runs in a circular arc around the periphery of the flan, flanked by a beaded border. The coin exhibits attractive cabinet toning with iridescent blue and golden hues visible across the silver field. |
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| Obverse lettering | CAESARI AVGVSTO (Translation: Of Caesar Augustus.) |
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This issue dates to a pivotal moment in Augustus's carefully managed constitutional settlement. In 19 BC, he had returned to Rome from the East amid a political crisis, and the Senate granted him a series of extraordinary powers that effectively completed the architecture of the Principate without the name of kingship. The SPQR types minted in the immediately following years were a deliberate response — publicly attributing power back to the Senate and Roman people even as Augustus consolidated it entirely in his own hands.
RIC I 119 is attributed to a traveling mint, likely accompanying Augustus during his campaigns, rather than Rome itself.