Denarius - Augustus SIGNIS RECEPTIS CL V S P Q R

The SIGNIS RECEPTIS issue commemorates one of Augustus's most carefully managed diplomatic victories: the return of the legionary standards lost by Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC and by Antony in subsequent Parthian campaigns. The Parthian king Phraates IV handed them over in 20 BC without a battle — a negotiated settlement that Augustus's propaganda machine transformed into a triumph equal to military conquest. The Senate awarded him a triumphal arch and the right to an ovation he declined, preferring the image of magnanimous restraint.

RIC I 86A is among the Spanish mint issues of this type, struck most likely at Colonia Caesaraugusta or Emerita, distinguishable from the Rome series by subtle die characteristics catalogued by Sutherland.