Happy birthday Augustus!!!

Nerva, the 1st denarius you illustrate with the 3/4 facing view is magnificent despite the bankers marks. The 3/4 facing view is the most challenging for the celator to execute & much more difficult than a full front facing view as seen on late Roman & Byzantine coins. The full front facing view immediately demands our attention because the subject is staring directly at us.

 

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Cucumbor, the reverse on this denarius is a wonderful composition & complements the excellent portrait; the toning is "icing on thee cake".

 

Brian Blessed also played Augustus in I, Claudius. Quintillius Varus "Where are my eagles!!!?"

 

PBS I Claudius--- Yes of course! A great portrayal of Augustus a bit unhinged.

 

Happy (belated) Birthday, Augustus! I just got this little coin delivered today... coincidence? Who knows!


Augustus, AE Quadrans, Struck 5 BC, Rome Mint
Obverse: SISENNA•MESSALLA•III VIR, Bowl-shaped, garlanded altar.
Reverse: GALVS•APRONIVS•A•A•A•F F, Legend surrounding S C.
References: RIC I 464
Size: 17mm, 2.86g

 

That is a very nice example @Justin Lee. Here is mine:

 

To celebrate one of the greatest man in history and his golden age era, not a denarius or cistophorus - but a humble bronze AE20 from Aphrodisias, Caria that I find very inspiring:
19 x 20 mm, 4.84 g; struck under Tiberius shortly after 14 AD

In antiquity, Aphrodisias was one of the important cities of Asia Minor known for its sculptures in marble, a fact favored by a nearby large marble quarry.
Aphrodite was the main goddess of Aphrodisias and the city was named after her “city of Aphrodite”. It is probable that at first, she was a local deity worshipped as Ishtar and only later she became identified with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The main shrine was the great Temple of Aphrodite with her famous statue from the 1st century BC. The statue was not preserved but there exists a depiction on a byzantine wall. It was a statue in Caria style and originally naturalistic. It changed under the Greek influence. Her Ependytes, the cloth like a sheath, is typical of Anatolian cult image, e.g. the Artemis of Ephesos. She wears a thick, form-disguising tunic. Her feet are close together, her upper arms are close to the body and the forearms are extended forward to give and to receive. The most striking element is her Ependytes, hiding most part of her body. Its particular arrangement transmits the fundamental idea of Aphrodite as Goddess from the Earth, Sky and Sea.

The standard reference on Aphrodisias is by David Mcdonald, The Coinage of Aphrodisias, London 1992. The style of this coin shows that it was struck shortly after Augustus death (14 AD). The Obverse corresponds to O97-O98, the reverse is not known by Macdonald: the lettering with the I of AΦPOΔI ending at Aphrodite’s right hand, is new. The known types shown in Macdonald Rev. R164-R170 always have OΔI above the right hand. The authors of RPC - based on Macdonald’s work - adscribe this type to Caligula (37-41 AD). The letters "E" und "Σ" are angular, while under Augustus and Tiberius round letters were used. The struck is uniformly 12h, under Augustus / Tiberius it varies between 12h and 6h for each issue.
According to Kroyers (where my dad bought the coin) it was struck under the early reign of Tiberius honoring Augustus.
This long story is just to say that I don't know the reference..

Obverse: ΘEOΣ ΣEBAΣTOΣ Laureate head of Divus Augustus to right
Reverse: AΦPOΔI - ΣIEΩN; cult statue of Aphrodite Aphrodisias standing facing with hands extended; the head decoration looks like 3 feathers

Pictures are very hard to take - I am trying to get better ones, not easy ...