Augustus Bronze As, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159

Monetary and Historical Context

The monetary system established by Augustus following the transition from the Roman Republic required vast quantities of base-metal small change to sustain market exchange, military payroll logistics, and civic trade across newly organized western provinces. While the centralized mint at Rome and later imperial facilities such as Lugdunum struck standard quadrantes, asses, dupondii, and sestertii in pure copper and orichalcum, provincial municipalities in southern Gaul retained special minting dispensations. The colony of Nemausus (Nîmes), formally titled Colonia Augusta Nemausus, stood as an essential focal point of Roman veteran settlement and regional administration in Gallia Narbonensis. The iconic crocodile and palm coinage of Nemausus originated decades earlier to commemorate the conquest of Egypt following the pivotal Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the formal annexation of the Ptolemaic realm in 30 BC. The issue catalogued as RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159 represents the culmination of this long-running monetary sequence, struck during the twilight of Augustus's life between approximately AD 10 and AD 14. By this phase, Augustus was governing with Tiberius as his imperial colleague, yet the monetary iconography of Nemausus remained dedicated to the foundational partnership of Augustus and his greatest general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who had died long before in 12 BC. Numismatists have debated the formal denomination of this issue. Although catalogued as an as in the Roman Imperial Coinage system due to its weight standards and western circulation role alongside standard imperial copper asses, its bronze alloy and visual duality have led some scholars to classify the denomination as a dupondius or a colonial unit tariffed against the imperial as. In local Gallic transactions, these coins circulated flexibly alongside regular imperial issues, filling critical low-denomination voids in the regional money supply.

Production and Minting Operations

Production of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159 was centered exclusively at the colonial mint of Nemausus. The facility operated at substantial scale, generating massive outputs across several decades. The late issues struck between AD 10 and AD 14 reflect highly organized minting practices, with prepared cast flans hammered between engraved iron dies. The metallurgy of the series typically consists of leaded bronze or local copper alloys, differing from the unalloyed red copper used for contemporaneous imperial asses produced at Lugdunum or Rome. The physical properties of this final series are marked by robust planchets with slightly bevelled or hammer-beaten edges, characteristic of late Augustan provincial workshops. Die alignment across specimens is variable, though many examples exhibit approximately vertical or slightly offset die axes. Engravers at Nemausus worked in a crisp, deeply modeled regional style that clearly distinguishes Series IV from the earlier emissions of the colony. Mint officials at Nemausus maintained strict quality control over weight standards, yet intentional division of these coins was remarkably common in daily circulation. As with other Gallic and western bronze issues, specimens were frequently halved or quartered with cold chisels to produce fractional small change equivalent to semisses and quadrantes. The presence of regularized cuts demonstrates that the mint's output served an indispensable utilitarian function in regional commerce where small fractional coins were chronically undersupplied.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse design of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159 presents a powerful composition of two adossed heads placed back to back. On the left, facing left, is Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, depicted as a mature Roman commander with prominent facial structure, strong jaw, and sunken brow. He wears a combined rostral crown and laurel wreath. The rostral crown (corona rostrata), adorned with ship prows, directly alludes to his brilliant naval commands at Naulochus and Actium, while the laurel wreath conveys triumphant honor. On the right, facing right, is Augustus, depicted in an idealized, classicizing imperial style with calm features and neat hair locks. Augustus is shown laureate, crowned with the laurel wreath of victory and civic salvation. This paired presentation reinforces the shared triumphs that established the Principate, linking the deceased military architect of the regime with the living princeps. The arrangement of adossed portraits on provincial coinage was derived from Hellenistic and early Roman precedents, such as the heads of the Dioscuri or the double-headed Janus, adapted here to communicate dynastic collegiality. By pairing the two figures back to back, the die engravers produced a balanced, instantly recognizable visual signature that came to define Nemausian coinage across the Roman world.

Reverse Iconography: Crocodile and Palm

The reverse of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159 displays one of the most famous visual allegories in ancient numismatics: an Egyptian crocodile chained to an upright palm shoot. The crocodile, rendered horizontally facing right at the base of the flan, is secured by a chain attached around its neck and fastened to the trunk of the palm. The palm shoot is rendered with short, dense fronds that curl and tip toward the left side of the field. Suspended in the upper left field, above the curved tip of the palm, is a triumphant wreath decorated with long, fluttering ribbons (taeniae) that trail downward. In the right field, flanking the palm trunk, two short branches or shoots emerge from the base. Below the scene, the civic ethnic COL NEM is placed in the exergue or distributed around the lower field, firmly attributing the coin to the colony. Iconographically, the crocodile serves as the primary emblem of Egypt and the Nile, while the palm tree signifies both the exotic, rich territory of the East and the military victory achieved there. The heavy chain binding the beast to the tree symbolizes the subjugation of Egypt following the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The inclusion of this imagery on the civic coinage of a colony settled by veterans of the Actium campaign served as an enduring monument to their collective service and the spoils that established their veteran community.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse legend on RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159 reads IMP DIVI F P P, divided around the paired portraits. The inscription opens on the left adjacent to Agrippa and concludes on the right beside Augustus. The epigraphic elements abbreviate Imperator Divi Filius Pater Patriae. The component IMP designates Augustus's permanent praenomen of imperator, affirming supreme military command. DIVI F (Divi Filius) emphasizes his status as the adopted son of the deified Julius Caesar (Divus Iulius), a cornerstone of Julio-Claudian legitimacy. The concluding title P P (Pater Patriae, or Father of the Country) is of decisive chronological and historical importance. The Roman Senate, equestrian order, and people formally conferred this title upon Augustus on February 5, 2 BC. Its appearance on this late issue securely dates the type to the post-2 BC era, distinguishing it unmistakably from early issues of Nemausus that carry only IMP DIVI F. The reverse inscription is the simple civic legend COL NEM, an abbreviation of Colonia Nemausensis (or Colonia Nemausus). Written in bold Latin capitals, the lettering identifies the municipal authority responsible for the issue under imperial sanction. Epigraphically, the lettering of Series IV is generally compact, neat, and well centered, reflecting mature colonial die-cutting standards.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the fundamental classification of the Nemausus coinage established in Roman Provincial Coinage (RPC I) and refined in the revised edition of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume I, the series is divided into distinct typological groups spanning from roughly 28 or 16 BC through the end of Augustus's reign: Series I (RPC 522; RIC 154-157) represents the earliest issues, characterized by Augustus bare-headed and Agrippa wearing only the rostral crown, bearing the legend IMP DIVI F without P P. Series II (RPC 523) continues the uncial styling and bare head of Augustus. Series III (RPC 524; RIC 158) introduces the title P P following 2 BC, showing Augustus laureate and Agrippa wearing the combined rostral crown and laurel wreath, with a tall, slender palm tree on the reverse. Series IV (RPC 525; RIC 159-160) encompasses the present type. Struck circa AD 10 to 14, RIC 159 is specifically characterized by the short, dense fronds of the palm shoot with its tip curving to the left, accompanied by the wreath with long ties in the upper left field. RIC 160 represents a minor stylistic variant within this late group, often distinguished by differences in wreath ties or palm frond details. This chronological framework demonstrates how the mint periodically retooled its dies to reflect the expanding imperial titulature and changing stylistic fashions across four decades of production.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

The bronze coinage of Nemausus enjoyed an extraordinary geographic circulation that far exceeded typical colonial token issues. While struck for Colonia Nemausus, RIC 159 and its earlier typological companions circulated widely throughout the western provinces of the Roman Empire. Excavations across Gaul, the Iberian peninsula, the Rhine frontier forts, and even Roman military outposts in Germania have yielded abundant quantities of Nemausus asses. Archaeological context indicates that the coin served as an indispensable medium of exchange along frontier zones where legionary forces and civilian merchants required small denominations. Its presence in major western site finds, such as the legionary bases at Haltern and Oberaden in Germany, as well as oppida and urban centres throughout Gallia Comata, underlines its integration into the wider monetary economy of the Augustan army. The massive volume of the late issues, combined with their robust bronze fabric, ensured remarkable longevity. Hoard evidence and stratigraphical finds demonstrate that specimens of RIC 159 continued to circulate well into the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, frequently surviving until the extensive Neronian and Flavian bronze recoinages finally displaced them from common daily use.

References

1. Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain, I: Auguste. Nemausus issues, pp. 88-92
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 159. Type record ric.1(2).aug.159
3. Roman Provincial Coinage, Vol. I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. pp. 152-153, no. 525
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. I: From 31 BC to AD 69. pp. 51-53, no. 159