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Denarius - Augustus SIGNIS RECEPTIS, Mars
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 19 BC |
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| Value | 1 Denarius |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Augustus facing right, rendered in fine engraving with naturalistic detail to the hair and facial features. The portrait presents the emperor with a youthful, idealized effigy characteristic of Augustan propaganda coinage. The circumferential legend reads CAESAR AVGVSTVS, divided around the portrait with CAESAR to the left and AVGVSTVS to the right. The field is plain and unadorned, focusing attention entirely on the imperial portrait. The style is consistent with the refined classicizing aesthetic of the Spanish mint at Colonia Patricia. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This denarius commemorates one of Augustus's most carefully managed diplomatic achievements: the recovery of the legionary standards lost by Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC and by Antony in his Parthian campaigns. The standards were not won back in battle — Parthian king Phraates IV simply handed them over in 20 BC as part of a negotiated settlement. Augustus's propaganda machine transformed this into a military triumph, and the mint output of 19 BC was central to broadcasting that fiction across the empire.
The SIGNIS RECEPTIS types are well documented in RIC I and were struck in significant volume, suggesting a deliberate commemorative program rather than routine production.