AUGUSTUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE. laureate head right REVERSE: AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT, C L CAESARES below, Gaius & Lucius standing front with shields & spears; in field above, a simpulum & lituus (in "Pd" formation) Lugdunum 4-2 BC 3.5g, 18mm RIC 210
Silver Coin (AR Denarius) minted in Lugdunum during the reign of AUGUSTUS between 2 B.C. - 14 A.D. Obv. CAESAR.AVGVSTVS.DIVI.F.PATER.PATRIAE.: laur. hd. r. Rev. C.L.CAESARES.AVGVSTI.F.COS.DESIG.PRINC.IVVENT.: Caius and Lucius Caesar stg., each holding a shield and spear between them, a lituus (on l.) and simplum (on r.) above (each turned inward). This coin refers to the naming of these boys for the consulate and their acclamation as Princeps Juventus. RCS #479. RSCI #43. RICI #207. pg. 55. DVM #51.
Yes, the "X" above the shields in the center field on the reverse makes it the scarcer variety. There was a thread on that a while ago.
@cmezner wrote previously about the "X" variant in a previous thread: It is an X, not a star and according to Reinhard Wolters cited in the Künker auction, p.36 at https://issuu.com/archaeologymatters/docs/kunker_eauction_31__29-30.10.2014_ " This type celebrates the Lex Valeria Cornelia and was struck 5 AD in Lugdunum or even in Rome. This law established 10 voting centuria for the preselection of Consuls and Praetor. The X on the reverse and the use of the Gaius/Lucius type after the death of Augustus' grandson is explained by the naming of the 10th Centuria after Gaius and Lucius Caesares. For dating, and mint see Wolters, "Gaius und Lucius Caesares als designierte Konsuln und principes iuventutis". Lex Valeria Cornelia and RIC I² 205 ff., in: Chiron 32 (2002), p. 297 ff. "
