I got the kind of Augustus denarius I always wanted :)

Ahh good ol’ Agrippa!

I like to call him the “Fist of Augustus”.

The bond and trust between the two really makes you appreciate & respect Agrippa when you consider Augustus saw him as an equal.

 

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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was Octavians life-long faithful friend. About the gentilitium Vipsanius little is known, being very rare and unusual. Agrippa didn't use it.
His military capabilities, which he clearly demonstrated, and his faithfulness towards Octavian combined with his political discretion never brought him in temptation to play a different role than the one of "second man" of the state; not during the rough years of the Civil Wars nor afterwards in the time after Octavius became Princeps and Augustus.

A portrait of Agrippa at the Museo Centrale Montemartini, one of the few existing sculptures of Agrippa:

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I would guess that I see four or five Gaius & Lucius denarii up for sale for each one of every other type of Augustus (or Octavian) denarius on the market (with one possible exception; see below). It's also the only type one can regularly buy in decent condition for $500 or less. At NYINC, I saw several of them in the Herakles Numismatics trays and talked to Perry Siegel about how common they are. He said he always keeps a number of them in stock, and recommends them to people who are simply looking for a silver coin of Augustus. Obviously, the type must have been minted in enormous quantities. I have one too, of course, just as the majority of you seem to:



The only other type that seems nearly as common and affordable is this one:



A poor reverse, but a nice portrait.

I would love one of the beautiful anepigraphic obverse types like yours, @Gam3rBlake, or @Valentinian's, but I'm afraid that they're impossible to find for less than, say, $1,000-$1,500 -- and more than $2,000 for one in great condition. At least as much as one would spend on, for example, a nice gold solidus of the 4th or early 5th centuries AD.

 

Yeah that’s very true. I was surprised at how expensive Augustus’s denarii are.

I always imagined that as an Emperor who reigned a long time and minted a crazy number of coins that they would be more affordable.

That is why I stayed at the XF grade so the price didn’t skyrocket into the stratosphere.

 

I also own another one of the common, affordable types of Augustus denarii:



AUGUSTUS 27 BC - AD 14 AR Denarius. 3.51g, 19.3mm MINTED: Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, 15 BC REF: RIC I 167a; Lyon 19; RSC 137 OBVERSE: AVGVSTVS DIVI F, bare head right. REVERSE: Bull butting right, left forefoot raised, lashing his tail; IMP • X in exergue.

Ex. Minotaur Coins

The image of the charging bull is a classic Augustan type, probably a reference to a military victory won by his biological father, Gaius Octavius, over the rebels of Thurium, a city whose badge was the bull. Augustus was in fact given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus when he was born in commemoration of this event. The bull was, of course, also a symbol of strength and vigour in ancient times in many cultures, including that of the Romans.

 

It's true that one can get a halfway decent example of this coin for $500 or so (about what I paid for mine, an IMP XII, which has what I'd call a VF obverse -- with a test cut or countermark that doesn't bother me -- and an F reverse with the bull's face worn away):



But an outstanding specimen will still cost you $1,200-$1500 from what I've seen -- in other words, only a little less than most other types of Augustus denarius. And I don't think they're remotely as common as the Gaius & Lucius type or even the shield reverse type. It isn't as if I had a whole lot of other options in my price range when I bought it.

 

So I just read that during the time this coin was minted the pay of a legionary had been doubled to 225 denarii.

Which means that one Augustus denarius was worth over a days pay!

 

225 / 365 = 0.62 per day
or 225 / 355 = 0.63 per day

Did you make a mistake in your calculation?

 

Nope you just said the same thing I did in a different way.

I said someone would have to work for over a day for one of these denarii.

You said that someone would only get .63 per day which is the same thing.

 

It deserves noting that Roman legionary were not paid a daily wage. Applying such a concept, is a modern way of looking at it.

During the early part of the empire, they were provided with a salary (referred to as a stipendium) of 300 Sestercii(75 denarii). It was doled out 3x a year. There were also times when they could be allotted additional special bonus payments (referred to as donativa). These were meant to encourage loyalty and/or as rewards for successful campaigns. Soldiers might also be allowed to partake in looting and plunder, as an extra perk of being on the job.

A large portion of their income went to having to pay for their own gear and food. Barring having an unsanctioned (but often allowed)family to provide for where one was stationed, there really wasn't much of a need for discretionary spending cash for the unwed soldier, other than vices (ie. booze, women et al.).

The real pay for a legionary came after his service was completed; where he was given a substantial lump sum severance, or bestowed the deed to a plot of land.

 

Does anyone happen to know if any other Emperors minted aniepigraphic coins without the writing on the obverse?

Or is it just an Augustus thing?

 

Constantine I & II at least.

ATB,
Aidan.

 

Thanks

Well that’s a bummer considering my collection ends at Severus Alexander.

Oh well at least I get 1 aniepigraphic Emperor.

 

How about an anepigraphic reverse type?

 

I forgot that I do have one anepigraphic denarius, albeit a not-in-great-condition (and thus relatively inexpensive) Octavian rather than one of Augustus per se:

The Triumvirs, Octavian, AR Denarius, Autumn 30-Summer 29 BC, Italian (Rome?) Mint. Obv. Bare head right, anepigraphic / Rev. Octavian’s Actian arch (arcus Octaviani), showing a single span surmounted by statute of Octavian in facing triumphal quadriga; IMP • CAESAR on the architrave. CRI 422 (ill. p. 257) [D. Sear, The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49-27 BC (1998)]; RIC I 267 (Augustus); RSC 123 (Augustus); Sear RCV I 1558, BMCRR 4348 (= BMCRE 624). Toned, scratches, some scrapes, and banker's marks. Fine. 21mm, 3.25 g, 3 h. From the Lampasas Collection. Ex. Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 487, Lot 474 (10 March 2021); ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 390, Lot 456 (1 February 2017).*



*See CRI pp. 257-258: “Prior to excavations in the Roman Forum in 1950-53 the size of the arch depicted on the second of the architectural denarii in the IMP CAESAR series [see also No. 421, RIC 266] remained uncertain. It is known that the Senate had decreed arches at Rome and Brundisium to commemorate Octavian's victory at Actium, but the remains discovered in 1888 near the temple of Divus Julius were of a triple arch which did not accord well with the appearance of the coin type. Further investigation on the site eventually revealed traces of an earlier single span structure which may be identified as Octavian's Actium arch. This had evidently been demolished little more than a decade after its erection when the much larger triple span arcus Augusti was constructed in 19 BC in honour of Augustus' recovery from the Parthians of the legionary standards lost by Crassus and Antony.” [Footnotes omitted.]

 

Ehhh..well the thing is is that my collection is mostly focused on the Emperor's themselves and the portrait of the Emperor is the most important thing to me in a coin.

Without writing on the obverse there is more room for the portrait but that doesn't really apply on the reverse.

 

An anepigraphic denarius of Octavian is certainly something special, and yours is very nice @Gam3rBlake, congrats.
They're not the easiest and cheapest to score though



Some others are easier to come by





or not...



Q

 

Amazing coins!

Yeah they’re definitely not cheap in most cases. This denarius cost me more than any other denarius of mine but I knew I’d get to a point where things started to cost more as you go further back in time.

Tiberius is going to cost me quite a bit too.

I don’t even know if I’ll ever get a Caligula or a Claudius.

It’s actually a bit nuts because Augustus was Emperor for quite some time and minted ALOT of coins so you’d expect them to be in plentiful supply.

Like Gordian III coins. They’re everywhere.

I imagine most of them got melted down when things got bad. Heck by the 3rd century there is so little silver in the coins that 1 Augustus denarius had as much silver as 30x 3rd century Antoninianii.

That’s one thing I love about the early denarii. They’re nice and big and they are made of very pure silver.

 

Thanks mate

No no. No cracking out for me xD

I find that slabs do a wonderful job of letting me stack my coins in my safe in a way that optimizes limited space.

 

Hey sorry I missed your post. I found this interesting article regarding payment of Roman legionaries.

Apparently they took home roughly 15-20 denarii every 4 months after deductions.