Heritage World Coin Auctions
CCE Signature Sale 3064 Online Sess 23 Apr 2018
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Augustus (27 BC-AD 14), for Gaius Caesar (died AD 4). AR denarius (3.58 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 3/5, banker's mark Uncertain Eastern mint, ca. 17 BC. CAESAR, bare youthful head (of Gaius Caesar?) right, within laurel wreath / AVGVSTVS, candelabrum in wreath, patera to right. RIC 540. BN 1013. Rare.
Although some numismatic scholars have reattributed this rare type to Augustus himself, the portrait is clearly not that of Augustus as he appeared in 17 BC, about the time this coin was struck at an uncertain mint in Roman Achaia or Asia. The portrait is that of a pre-adolescent boy, and suggestions that this merely represents a "rejuvenated" Augustus are unsupported by any real evidence. The type does seem connected to the Ludi Saeculares of 17 BC, the year in which Augustus officially adopted Gaius and his newborn brother, so identifying the youthful portrait as that of the newly named successor remains the most plausible attribution.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 600-800 USD
Augustus (27 BC-AD 14), for Gaius Caesar (died AD 4). AR denarius (3.58 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 3/5, banker's mark Uncertain Eastern mint, ca. 17 BC. CAESAR, bare youthful head (of Gaius Caesar?) right, within laurel wreath / AVGVSTVS, candelabrum in wreath, patera to right. RIC 540. BN 1013. Rare.
Although some numismatic scholars have reattributed this rare type to Augustus himself, the portrait is clearly not that of Augustus as he appeared in 17 BC, about the time this coin was struck at an uncertain mint in Roman Achaia or Asia. The portrait is that of a pre-adolescent boy, and suggestions that this merely represents a "rejuvenated" Augustus are unsupported by any real evidence. The type does seem connected to the Ludi Saeculares of 17 BC, the year in which Augustus officially adopted Gaius and his newborn brother, so identifying the youthful portrait as that of the newly named successor remains the most plausible attribution.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 600-800 USD