The New York Sale
Auction 40 11 January 2017
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ANCIENT COINS, ROMAN EMPIRE, Augustus. Silver Denarius (3.82 g), 27 BC-AD 14. Emerita(?), ca. 19/8 BC. Head of Augustus right, wreathed with oak-leaves. Rev. CAESAR AVGVSTVS, two laurel branches. (RIC 33a (Caesaraugusta?); BN 1283-4; BMC 318-20; RSC 47). An outstanding example. Well struck with underlying lustrous surfaces and lightly toned. Superb extremely fine.
When Octavian was awarded the honorary title of Augustus in 27 BC investing him with supreme power, he was also given the right to decorate his door posts with laurel branches, a sign of martial victory, and the corona civica, an oak-wreath symbolizing the saving of a Roman life. In the case of Augustus, the laurel branches signified his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and the corona civica was awarded for saving the life of not one citizen but of many thousands when he successfully ended the civil wars. On this coin Augustus is portrayed wearing the oak wreath crown - something that occurs only occasionally on Roman coins - which by law he was required to do at every public gathering.Recent scholarship indicates that the two mints identified in RIC (i.e., Caesaraugusta and Colonia Patricia) are unlikely for several reasons (see the summary in Triton XI, 723). RIC assigns this coin to a possible mint located at Caesaraugusta, but here we follow the recent scholarship and assign it to Emerita.
Estimate: $ 2,500
When Octavian was awarded the honorary title of Augustus in 27 BC investing him with supreme power, he was also given the right to decorate his door posts with laurel branches, a sign of martial victory, and the corona civica, an oak-wreath symbolizing the saving of a Roman life. In the case of Augustus, the laurel branches signified his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and the corona civica was awarded for saving the life of not one citizen but of many thousands when he successfully ended the civil wars. On this coin Augustus is portrayed wearing the oak wreath crown - something that occurs only occasionally on Roman coins - which by law he was required to do at every public gathering.Recent scholarship indicates that the two mints identified in RIC (i.e., Caesaraugusta and Colonia Patricia) are unlikely for several reasons (see the summary in Triton XI, 723). RIC assigns this coin to a possible mint located at Caesaraugusta, but here we follow the recent scholarship and assign it to Emerita.
Estimate: $ 2,500