Quadrans SISENNA GALVS A A A F F S C

Issued under the tresviri monetales — the three magistrates responsible for Rome's bronze coinage — this quadrans bears the name Sisenna Gallus, one of the junior officials Augustus permitted to place their names on the aes coinage as a concession to Republican tradition. The abbreviation A A A F F stands for auro argento aeri flando feriundo, the ancient formula denoting authority over casting and striking metals. Augustus had effectively stripped these men of real monetary power while preserving the ceremonial language that made the arrangement palatable to the senatorial class.