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Roman Emp., The Civil Wars, Aureus 68

Currency:CHF Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:9,600.00 CHF Estimated At:12,000.00 - 15,000.00 CHF
Roman Emp., The Civil Wars, Aureus 68
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The Roman Empire, The Civil Wars, 68 – 69, Aureus, Spain and Gaul (?) 68, AV 7.25 g. DIVVS – AVGVSTVS Radiate head of Augustus r. Rev. PAX Pax standing l., holding caduceus in r. hand, corn ears and poppies in l. C –. BMC –. RIC 114. CBN 65. Martin A24B (these dies). Calicó 454 (these dies). Extremely rare and an issue of tremendous fascination and historical importance. Light traces of edge filing and a graffito on obverse field, otherwise very fine The Civil War of A.D. 68-69 provides a wealth of coinage, some identifiable by issuer, and others that can only be described as ‘anonymous’ because no authority is named. It appears that ‘anonymous’ coinage was issued by the emperors Galba and Vitellius as well as by Vindex, the Gallic rebel who sparked the fall of Nero, and the German nationalist Julius Civilis. The mints appear to have been located in Spain, Gaul, Germany, Northern Italy, and perhaps in North Africa. Like many coins in the ‘anonymous’ series, this aureus refers to Augustus – an ideal choice since his image was visible on coins that still circulated widely. Furthermore, in those troubled times his principate (however much it was criticised in its own time) must have been seen as an inspirational Golden Age. The obverse shows the radiate head of Divus Augustus is modelled after the aurei of Augustus’ great-grandson Caligula, though it has a truncated inscription. The style is reasonably convincing, even to the point of retaining some measure of Caligula’s features. The reverse is not a match for any Caligulan obverse, as it shows Pax holding a caduceus and a grouping a poppy and grain stalks. Civil war issues do not usually copy their prototypes precisely, and they can be distinguished from the originals not only by stylistic and epigraphic differences, but also by their lower weights. This aureus, for example, weighs 7.25 grams, considerably lighter than the Caligulan originals, which typically weigh 7.70 to 7.85 grams.