Watch List notes:

C. Clodius C.f. Vestalis. Aureus 43, AV 8.00 g. CLODIVS – C·F· Wreathed head of Flora r.; behind, flower. Rev. VESTALIS Female figure seated l., holding culullus in r. hand. Babelon Claudia 12. Bahrfeldt 73. Sydenham 1134. Sear Imperators 316. Woytek, Arma et Nummi p. 558. Calicò 10. RBW 1788. Crawford 512/1.
Very rare and in superb condition for the issue, undoubtedly among the finest
specimens known. Struck on a very broad flan and of lovely style, minor
edge marks, otherwise about extremely fine.

Ex J. Schulman 1938. La Haye, 197; Ciani-Vinchon May 1955, 247; Aretusa 4, 1996, 402 and NAC 78, 2014, JD, 506 sales.
The moneyer issues of the eventful year 41 B.C. are a mixed grouping. Some, such as this aureus of C. Clodius Vestalis, bear strictly personal types, whereas others have political messages that are only scarcely veiled. The coins reveal a divergence of political sympathies among the four moneyers – a circumstance that Octavian would never allow again after this year, when he emerged victorious in the Perusine War (41-40 B.C.) and his authority in Rome was strengthened.
Of the members of this year's college of moneyers we may say that M. Arrius Secundus was politically aligned with Octavian since he issued denarii which bear a portrait that almost certainly represents Octavian (Cr. 513/2-3). One of his colleagues, C. Nummonius Vaala, probably was in the same camp, as his denarii seemingly portray the deified Julius Caesar (Cr. 514/2), yet the the bust of Victory on his aurei (Cr. 514/1) may have been intended to show support for Marc Antony's wife Fulvia, who was instrumental in sparking the Perusine War. The sympathies of another member, L. Servius Rufus, must have been opposed to Octavian, for he produced denarii with a distinctive and recognizable portrait of Brutus (Cr. 515/2), who in 42 B.C. had been defeated by the coalition of Antony and Octavian.
The political views of the foremost moneyer of this college, C. Clodius Vestalis, remain a mystery as his coin types are entirely personal. However, we might suspect that he supported Octavian since he survived the vicissitudes of this dangerous age to later be awarded the proconsular command of Crete and Cyrene. Without taking too much on faith, we may presume that he was an adept politician for not having used the coinage to express his political sympathies, but instead to focus on the promotion of his family and career.
This aureus of Clodius Vestalis bears a reverse type that must be a punning allusion to his cognomen, for it depicts the seated figure of a Vestal Virgin. The obverse portrays a relatively obscure deity, Flora, who presided over flowers and gardens, and whose worship is thought to have predated the foundation of Rome. Devoid of any obvious political connotations, this type seems to have been personal to the moneyer or to some achievement of his ancestors. Crawford rejects the idea that it is commemorative of the establishment of the goddesses' games, the Floralia, in 238 B.C.