Maison Palombo
Auction 19 12 Dec 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Auguste (27-14) - Cistophore - Pergame ou Ephèse ? (27-26).
D'une qualité exceptionnelle - Magnifique patine médaillier.
Probablement le plus bel exemplaire connu, du meilleur style.
Exemplaire de la collection de Hans von Aulock (1906-1980), et de la vente Triton XI du 8 janvier 2008, N° 675.
Cet exemplaire publié dans : Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Deutschland. Sammlung von Aulock, vol. III, Berlin 1964, N° 6571, et dans A. Banti et L. Simonetti, Corpus Nummorum Romanorum, Florence 1979, vol. IV, N° 280.
Seulement 6 exemplaires connus des auteurs du Roman Provincial Coinage.
11.28g - RPC I 2205 - BMC manque - RIC 489 - CNR 280 (cet exemplaire) - SNG von Aulock 6571 (cet exemplaire)
FDC Exceptionnel - CHOICE MS
This coin, struck shortly after Octavian became Augustus, at the time when he moved the capital-city of Asia Minor from Pergamon to Ephesus, is very desirable for being of a type documented in ancient literature: " While in retirement at Apollonia, Augustus mounted with Agrippa to the studio of the astrologer Theogenes. Agrippa was the first to try his fortune, and when a great and almost incredible career was predicted for him, Augustus persisted in concealing the time of his birth and in refusing to disclose it, through diffidence and fear that he might be found to be less eminent. When he at last gave it unwillingly and hesitatingly, and only after many requests, Theogenes sprang up and threw himself at his feet. From that time on Augustus had such faith in his destiny, that he made his horoscope public and issued a silver coin stamped with the sign of the constellation Capricornus, under which he was born" (Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 94.12).
Augustus's official birthday was on 23/24 September 63 BC, in which case the constellation Capricorn would be the sign under which he was conceived - rather than born - a distinction which was not always made by the Romans. Moreover, the period during which sun transits Capricorn (late December to late January) is that during which the Senate granted imperium to Octavian in 43 BC, and in which he accepted the title Augustus in 27 BC, two major events in his life. The Capricorn, a horned goat which is represented here as a goat with a fish tail, might be a representation of Pan - who escaped an attack by the monster Typhon by jumping into the Nile, or of Amalthea (the goat who acted as foster-mother to Zeus in a cave in the Cretan Mount Aigaion after Rhea rescued him from being devoured by his father Cronos). Quite obviously as a homage to their predecessor Augustus, as well as a reference to the natal sign of his son Titus, the type of the Capricorn was reused from AD 75 onwards by Vespasian.
The lituus, depicted on the obverse of this attractive specimen, could be either an Etruscan brass trumpet (used as a horn in the Roman army) or - in this case - a curved augural staff. It was the symbol of office for the college of the augurs, who used this wand as a cult instrument in order to mark out a templum (ritual space in the sky), the passage of birds through which could be interpreted as a positive or negative sign. This religious symbol is therefore appropriate for a coin which illustrates the astrological sign of the Capricorn on its reverse. In addition, with a cornucopia, the reverse refers to the prosperity brought by Augustus to the Romans, thanks to his victories, which are evoked by the wreath; a wreath of oak-leaves was an award for saving the life of a fellow Roman, that had been bestowed upon Octavian-Augustus by the Roman senate (after he obtained, in 20 BC from Phraates IV, the liberation of thousands of Roman citizens that had been made prisoners in Parthia). It was a great success for him, notably because he also obtained the standards which Crassus had lost in the battle of Carrhae - standards, which figure on the 'Augustus of Prima Porta' statue and which were stored in the Temple of Mars Ultor. In the words of Cassius Dio, " the privilege of placing the laurel trees in front of the royal residence, and of hanging the wreath of oak leaves [corona civica] above them, was voted in his [= Octavian's] honour to recognize in perpetuity his status as victor over his enemies and the saviour of the citizens". Recipients of the corona civica were entitled to various honours, one of which was having spectators rise as they entered a public theatre. The laurel branches were a sign of martial victory, and invoked his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium.
Biblio.: K. Kraft, " Zum Capricorn auf den Münzen des Augustus", in JNG, vol. 17 (1967), pp. 17-27; C. H. V. Sutherland, The cistophori of Augustus,
London 1970; M. Schütz, " Der Capricorn als Sternzeichen des Augustus", in Antike und Abendland, vol. 37 (1991), pp. 55-67; K. Ehling, " Wer wird jetzt noch an Schicksalserforschung und Horoskop glauben?" (Ephraim d. Syrer 4, 26). Bemerkungen zu Julians Stiermünzen und dem Geburtsdatum des Kaisers", in JNG, vol. 45/46 (2005/2006), pp. 111-132; B. Weisser, " Der Capricornus des Augustus in Pergamon", in XIII Congresso International de Numismática Madrid - 2003. Actas I, Madrid 2005, pp. 967 et 969; J.-U. Thormann, " Konzeptionszeichen auf antiken Münzen?", in R. Lehmann (ed.), Nub Nefer - Gutes Gold: Gedenkschrift für Manfred Gutgesell, Rahden 2014, pp. 179-186.
D'une qualité exceptionnelle - Magnifique patine médaillier.
Probablement le plus bel exemplaire connu, du meilleur style.
Exemplaire de la collection de Hans von Aulock (1906-1980), et de la vente Triton XI du 8 janvier 2008, N° 675.
Cet exemplaire publié dans : Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Deutschland. Sammlung von Aulock, vol. III, Berlin 1964, N° 6571, et dans A. Banti et L. Simonetti, Corpus Nummorum Romanorum, Florence 1979, vol. IV, N° 280.
Seulement 6 exemplaires connus des auteurs du Roman Provincial Coinage.
11.28g - RPC I 2205 - BMC manque - RIC 489 - CNR 280 (cet exemplaire) - SNG von Aulock 6571 (cet exemplaire)
FDC Exceptionnel - CHOICE MS
This coin, struck shortly after Octavian became Augustus, at the time when he moved the capital-city of Asia Minor from Pergamon to Ephesus, is very desirable for being of a type documented in ancient literature: " While in retirement at Apollonia, Augustus mounted with Agrippa to the studio of the astrologer Theogenes. Agrippa was the first to try his fortune, and when a great and almost incredible career was predicted for him, Augustus persisted in concealing the time of his birth and in refusing to disclose it, through diffidence and fear that he might be found to be less eminent. When he at last gave it unwillingly and hesitatingly, and only after many requests, Theogenes sprang up and threw himself at his feet. From that time on Augustus had such faith in his destiny, that he made his horoscope public and issued a silver coin stamped with the sign of the constellation Capricornus, under which he was born" (Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 94.12).
Augustus's official birthday was on 23/24 September 63 BC, in which case the constellation Capricorn would be the sign under which he was conceived - rather than born - a distinction which was not always made by the Romans. Moreover, the period during which sun transits Capricorn (late December to late January) is that during which the Senate granted imperium to Octavian in 43 BC, and in which he accepted the title Augustus in 27 BC, two major events in his life. The Capricorn, a horned goat which is represented here as a goat with a fish tail, might be a representation of Pan - who escaped an attack by the monster Typhon by jumping into the Nile, or of Amalthea (the goat who acted as foster-mother to Zeus in a cave in the Cretan Mount Aigaion after Rhea rescued him from being devoured by his father Cronos). Quite obviously as a homage to their predecessor Augustus, as well as a reference to the natal sign of his son Titus, the type of the Capricorn was reused from AD 75 onwards by Vespasian.
The lituus, depicted on the obverse of this attractive specimen, could be either an Etruscan brass trumpet (used as a horn in the Roman army) or - in this case - a curved augural staff. It was the symbol of office for the college of the augurs, who used this wand as a cult instrument in order to mark out a templum (ritual space in the sky), the passage of birds through which could be interpreted as a positive or negative sign. This religious symbol is therefore appropriate for a coin which illustrates the astrological sign of the Capricorn on its reverse. In addition, with a cornucopia, the reverse refers to the prosperity brought by Augustus to the Romans, thanks to his victories, which are evoked by the wreath; a wreath of oak-leaves was an award for saving the life of a fellow Roman, that had been bestowed upon Octavian-Augustus by the Roman senate (after he obtained, in 20 BC from Phraates IV, the liberation of thousands of Roman citizens that had been made prisoners in Parthia). It was a great success for him, notably because he also obtained the standards which Crassus had lost in the battle of Carrhae - standards, which figure on the 'Augustus of Prima Porta' statue and which were stored in the Temple of Mars Ultor. In the words of Cassius Dio, " the privilege of placing the laurel trees in front of the royal residence, and of hanging the wreath of oak leaves [corona civica] above them, was voted in his [= Octavian's] honour to recognize in perpetuity his status as victor over his enemies and the saviour of the citizens". Recipients of the corona civica were entitled to various honours, one of which was having spectators rise as they entered a public theatre. The laurel branches were a sign of martial victory, and invoked his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium.
Biblio.: K. Kraft, " Zum Capricorn auf den Münzen des Augustus", in JNG, vol. 17 (1967), pp. 17-27; C. H. V. Sutherland, The cistophori of Augustus,
London 1970; M. Schütz, " Der Capricorn als Sternzeichen des Augustus", in Antike und Abendland, vol. 37 (1991), pp. 55-67; K. Ehling, " Wer wird jetzt noch an Schicksalserforschung und Horoskop glauben?" (Ephraim d. Syrer 4, 26). Bemerkungen zu Julians Stiermünzen und dem Geburtsdatum des Kaisers", in JNG, vol. 45/46 (2005/2006), pp. 111-132; B. Weisser, " Der Capricornus des Augustus in Pergamon", in XIII Congresso International de Numismática Madrid - 2003. Actas I, Madrid 2005, pp. 967 et 969; J.-U. Thormann, " Konzeptionszeichen auf antiken Münzen?", in R. Lehmann (ed.), Nub Nefer - Gutes Gold: Gedenkschrift für Manfred Gutgesell, Rahden 2014, pp. 179-186.