When OCTAVIAN became AVGVSTVS

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, Jan 16, 2021.

  1. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    For forty years he reigned over the immense Roman Empire. Nothing predisposed the young Octavian, simple protege of Caesar, to become one of the greatest sovereigns of all time.

    [​IMG]

    Augustus, British Museum

    January 16, 27 BC: the Roman Senate awarded Octavian the title of Augustus, usually reserved for deities. This honorary title designates one who acts under good auspices. Historians use this name to refer to him from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD and after his death it was used as a title for subsequent emperors. It rewards the grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar for having restored the forms of the senatorial republic and pacified the country by putting an end to the civil wars which had stained it with blood for a century. Three days earlier, Octavian had skillfully resigned from all his functions and the distraught Senate had begged him to return! And this is how Senator Lucius Munatius Plancus, who had betrayed Marc Antony for the benefit of Octavian on the eve of the battle of Actium, suggests giving the latter the nickname Augustus.

    [​IMG]
    Discovered in 1951, this marble shield was probably offered to the consul in 27 BC. The Senate and the people thus conferred on him the honorary title of Augustus, which all emperors after him would wear.

    Augustus comes from the Latin word Augere (which means to increase) and can be translated as "the illustrious". It was a title of religious rather than political authority. Augustus obtained the right to hang the civic crown above his door, the "civic crown" in oak, and to have laurels draped over its doorposts. However, he refrained from displaying insignia of power such as holding a scepter, wearing a tiara, or wearing the golden crown and purple toga of his predecessor Julius Caesar. If he refused to symbolize his power by putting on and wearing these objects on his person, the Senate nevertheless awarded him a gold shield displayed in the meeting room of the Curia, bearing the inscription virtus, pietas, clementia , iustitia - "bravery, piety, mercy and justice."

    Please show me your augustan coins !

    Augustus Ae As
    RIC 428
    P LVRIVS AGRIPPA
    A1DEB5FE-A219-49B8-A320-D9239BDF6EEA.jpeg
    Augustus Ae As
    RIC 427
    P LVRIVS AGRIPPA
    32F128DB-B4B4-456A-A1AB-DBF7D0C73B15.jpeg
     
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

  4. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    This topic seems popular today ;-)

    Thanks for posting. Here's my coin pile.
     
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  5. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Ave Caesar! Ave Augustus!
    Augustus Signis Receptis.jpg
     
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  6. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    A coin that recognizes the victory at Actium
    augustus Agrippa Col Nem.jpg
    Gaul, Colonia Nemausus, Augustus, 27 BC-AD 14, with Agrippa, AE As(?), struck circa 9/8-3 BC
    Obv: IMP, heads of Agrippa, wearing rostral crown and wreath, left and Augustus, wearing oak wreath, right, back to back, DIVI F Below
    Rev: Crocodile right chained to palm branch with short fronds; wreath with long ties above, palms below
    Ref: RIC I 158; RPC I 524

    My notes on this coin are posted here: Crocodiles and Romans
     
  7. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    As or Dupondius, this is THE question...
     
  8. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Hail Augustus !

    Before :

    [​IMG]
    Lepidus and Octavian, Denarius - minted in Italy, 42 BC
    LEPIDVS PONT MAX III V R P C, bare head of Lepidus right (NT and MA in monograms)
    C CAESAR IMPIII VIR R P C, bare head of Octavian right (MP in monogram)
    3.78 gr
    Ref : HCRI # 140, RCV # 1523, Cohen # 2


    ... And after :

    [​IMG]
    Augustus, Denarius - Colonia Patricia mint ? ca. 19-18 BC
    CAESARI AVGVSTO, laureate head right
    SP - QR on either side of a domed terastyle temple, in which is a chariot with aquila.
    3,66 gr
    Ref : RSC # 279, RIC # 119

    Q
     
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  9. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Mark Antony & Octavian.jpg
    Mark Antony & Octavian, circa 41 BC, AR Denarius: 19 mm, 3.90 gm, 12 h. Ephesus Mint. Ex Al Kowsky Collection.
     
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  10. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Here's a common one!

    [​IMG]
    Divus Augustus, 27 BC - 14 AD.
    Roman Æ as, 9.30 g, 28.4 mm, 7 h.
    Rome, issued under Tiberius, AD 22-30.
    Obv: DIVVS·AVGVSTVS·PATER, head of Augustus, radiate, left.
    Rev: PROVIDENT S C, Altar-enclosure with double paneled door; surmounted by uncertain ornaments.
    Refs: RIC 81; BMCRE 146; Cohen (Augustus) 228; RCV 1789.
     
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  11. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Little Octavian

    upload_2021-1-16_10-1-52.png
    RImp Antony-Octavian AR Denarius 41 BCE 3.65g 18.7mm Military mint Syria star Craw 528-2a Sear 1507


    To Augustus (with a LOT of Agrippa help!)

    upload_2021-1-16_10-3-21.png
    RI Augustus oak crown Agrippa rostral crown L AE Dupondius 26mm 12.6g Type III 9-3 BCE Nemausus chained Croc wreaths RIC I 158
     
  12. Ricardo123

    Ricardo123 Well-Known Member

    Divo Augusto imitation:

    FB8705FF-738B-4643-969B-3D9F169B0F95.jpeg
     
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  13. John Wright

    John Wright Well-Known Member

    Will somebody please show/tell me how to put captions below each image? I have first: "Octavian, Pharaoh of Egypt", second: "Augustus, a bit later sestertius", and third: "One of Augustus' later issues (12ad, Temple of Lugdonum)". I love these pieces.
    02----Augustus  Egp  15'6.jpg 02----Augustus       25'4.jpg 02----Augustus       25'8.jpg ".
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2021
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  14. Archeocultura

    Archeocultura Well-Known Member

    Halved dupondius from Vienne I Augustus RPC 0517 Vienne left half dupondius 3-188_edited-1.jpg
     
  15. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I enjoy the problem this etymology caused the mint 200 years later. Mark Antony was never 'Augustus' but he held the priestly office of Augur. This was listed on all of his legionary denarii - ANT AVG. When Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus issued a coin to commemorate the battle of Actium bicentennial both parts of ANT AVG had taken on new meanings. ANTonius could be confused with ANToninus and AVGur with AVGustus. Therefore both words were spelled out on the commemorative ANTONINVS AVGVR.
    rc2310bb1050.jpg
    for comparison, an Antony with ANT AVG:
    ra8380bb0342.jpg
     
  16. ambr0zie

    ambr0zie Dacian Taraboste

    Some pocket pieces, but I don't complain, I managed to narrow down the legends
    upload_2021-1-17_2-4-8.png
    RIC I (second edition) Augustus 427; As
    http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).aug.427
    Date: 7 BC
    Authority: Augustus
    Issuer: P. Lurius Agrippa
    Legend: CAESAR AVGVST PONT MAX TRIBVNIC POT Type: Head of Augustus, bare, right

    Legend: P LVRIVS AGRIPPA IIIVIR A A A F F
    Type: Legend surrounding S C

    upload_2021-1-17_2-5-21.png

    RIC I (second edition) Augustus 431 AS
    Date: 7 BC
    Authority: Augustus
    Issuer: M. Salvius Otho
    Legend: CAESAR AVGVST PONT MAX TRIBVNIC POT
    Type: Head of Augustus, bare, right
    Legend: M SALVIVS OTHO IIIVIR A A A F F
    Type: Legend surrounding S C

    On this one, is it a countermark on the portrait?
     
  17. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    sharing one that has not been shown in this thread.

    Denarius from a few years after he was awarded the title (already shared in another thread :D)

    Colonia Patricia, Lusitania, 18 - 17 BC
    17 x 20 mm, 3.731 g
    RIC 126; RSC 21;

    upload_2021-1-16_19-12-37.png upload_2021-1-16_19-12-46.png
     
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  18. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    Auction results seem fairly evenly split 52-70 in ACSearch in favor of Dupondius. Although RIC Online calls it an AE As.
     
  19. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    There still seems to be no agreement:confused:. French numismatists mostly call them Dupondi, others call them As because of the high amount of copper content.

    Ulrich Werz, (Werz, Gegenstempel auf Aesprägungen der frühen römischen Kaiserzeit im Rheingebiet):
    Iconographically, all types with outward looking portraits are to be connected to the double-headed Ianus bifrons (two-faced) on Republican Aes. To consider that it is above all the weight of a coin that is decisive in determining its nominal is a modern preconception based on standard norms that are projected into antiquity. Aes coins were struck according to mean weight and not as a pezzo (with exact weight). The coins of Nemausus need therefore to be considered as As, and having a high copper component, it is not convincing they can be considered dupondi. (Werz, ebd., S. 54/55).

    In the original language:
    „Ikonographisch sind alle Prägungen mit nach außen gewandten Portraits mit der Darstellung des Doppelkopfes des Ianus bifrons [= zweigesichtig] der republikanischen asses zu verbinden
    Die Vorstellung, daß in erster Linie das Gewicht der Münzen eine entscheidende Rolle für die Nominalzuweisung spielt, geht von modernen, fest aufeinander abgestimmten einheitlichen Gewichts normen aus und projiziert diese auf die Antike. Die Aesmünzen wurden wohl sämtlich al macro [nach dem Durchschnittsgewicht] und nicht al pezzo [auf das Stück genau mit exaktem Einzelgewicht] geprägt, wobei wahrscheinlich jedoch anzunehmen ist, daß ein Durchschnittsgewicht der einzelnen Stücke angepeilt wurde. Die Prägungen aus Nemausus sind somit als Asse anzusehen.Eine Ansprache als Dupondien aufgrund der Vorderseitendarstellung und des Gewichts der Stücke überzeugt nicht“ (Werz, ebd., S. 54/55).
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2021
  20. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    Cool research @cmezner . Here is the French theory:
    The Nimes'coins often appear under the denomination "as", which is still common among numismatists. But this is a misnomer since these pieces are actually related according to the Augustan reform (19 BC) to a dupondius, a currency equivalent to twice the value of an ace. This explains why these coins have often been cut into two equal bets, possibly into four, in order to thus create, following a lack of cash, aces or semis (half-aces). G. Depeyrot thus estimates that the presence of two portraits on a coin is equivalent at that time to the indication of a value corresponding to two aces. The alloy used for striking is not bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) but brass (copper and zinc), a more precious alloy because of the greater rarity of zinc compared to 'tin.
     
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  21. Archeocultura

    Archeocultura Well-Known Member

    countermarked halved nemausus coin. 3a nr 017 I Augustus 155 as Nemausus klop IMP3a nr 017.jpg
     
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