Augustus Copper As: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 471

Monetary Context

The monetary reforms instituted by Augustus transformed the Roman currency system into a coherent multi-tiered structure that integrated gold, silver, orichalcum, and pure copper. Under this reformed trimetallic and bimetallic base system, the as functioned as the primary low-denomination coin for everyday retail exchange throughout the empire. In earlier Republican tradition, the as was struck in bronze, but the Augustan reform assigned pure copper to the as and quadrans, while reserve denominations such as the sestertius and dupondius were struck in the more valuable golden-colored brass known as orichalcum. This chemical distinction allowed users to distinguish an as from a dupondius of comparable physical dimensions. RIC I (second edition) Augustus 471 belongs to the final monetary emission of the Augustan principate, produced decades after the initial resumption of copper striking at Rome around 19 to 15 BC. In that early phase, the Senate's traditional authority over base metal was visually underscored by the names and offices of the moneyers (tresviri aere argento auro flando feriundo). By AD 11, the moneyers' names had long vanished from imperial coinage. In their place, the emperor's established titles framed the civic formula S C, indicating that base-metal production operated under an imperial mandate mediated by nominal senatorial decree. The issue served to maintain liquidity for urban food markets, day labor wages, and military procurement at a time when administrative attention was increasingly directed toward stabilizing the Rhine frontier following the disaster in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9.

Production and Mints

Numismatic scholarship securely attributes RIC I (second edition) Augustus 471 to the principal imperial mint operating within Rome. Unlike the extensive provincial base-metal series manufactured at Lugdunum, Nemausus, or various Iberian colonial centers, the Rome mint produced asses characterized by distinct stylistic engraving, disciplined flan preparation, and high-relief striking. Die axes for this emission are typically adjusted to six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting a high level of operational control within the urban mint workshops. The metal utilized for this type is technically refined copper, selected for its malleability and visual contrast with orichalcum. While ancient minting tolerances allowed individual specimens to vary substantially, the target mass for the Augustan copper as generally ranged between 10.0 and 11.5 grams, with typical diameters measuring between 26 and 29 millimeters. Blanks were cast in individual molds or scored from cast flan strips, resulting in bevelled edges and slight irregularities in flan circularity. Die survival rates for the late Augustan asses indicate substantial output, suggesting that multiple die pairs were deployed concurrently to strike the thousands of coins necessary to supply commercial circulation in the capital and surrounding regions.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC 471 presents the bare head of Augustus oriented to the left. In the typological repertoire of the late Augustan Rome mint, portrait orientation served as a key diagnostic criterion, with left-facing portraits forming a distinct typological category alongside corresponding right-facing varieties catalogued as RIC 470. Augustus is rendered without laurel wreath or radiate crown, adhering to the traditional civic modesty of the Princeps in an urban Roman setting. The portrait style belongs to the classicizing Primaporta iconographic phase, which was universally adopted across imperial media from the late first century BC onward. Even though Augustus was over seventy years of age by AD 11, the portrait consciously eschews realistic physical senescence in favor of ageless, serene verism. The features display smooth facial modeling, a prominent straight nose, and the characteristic parted locks of hair across the brow that formed the hallmark of Augustan dynastic iconography. The left-facing portrait on this type conveys solemn gravitas while ensuring seamless visual continuity with preceding issues.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse design of RIC 471 is starkly epigraphic, centering upon the large, bold letters S C, which represent the traditional formula Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'). This central motif is encircled by an extensive peripheral legend that details the offices of the emperor. The deliberate prominence of the letters S C occupies virtually the entire internal field, a stylistic convention inherited from the moneyer series of the earlier Augustan principate. Numismatists have extensively debated the administrative significance of the reverse S C. While earlier nineteenth-century scholars posited a strict division of administrative authority wherein the Senate controlled base metal while the emperor held sole purview over gold and silver, modern analysis views the letters as a deliberate political fiction. By retaining S C as the focal element on everyday copper coins, Augustus affirmed his ostensible restoration of the Republic and honored the constitutional dignity of the Senate, even as the enclosing text unequivocally defined the emperor as the supreme religious, military, and civil authority of the Roman world.

Epigraphy and Legends

The epigraphic program of RIC 471 provides exact chronological and constitutional evidence for its striking. The obverse legend reads IMP CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS IMP XX, translated as 'Imperator Caesar, son of the deified, Augustus, acclaimed imperator twenty times'. This title combines the inherited triumviral praenomen of Imperator, the patronymic asserting divine descent from Julius Caesar (Divi Filius), the sacred honorific title Augustus granted in 27 BC, and the iterative military acclamation IMP XX, which was awarded following victorious campaigns conducted by Tiberius and Germanicus in Illyricum and the Rhine basin. The reverse inscription reads PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POT XXXIIII surrounding the central S C. This legend translates as 'Chief Priest, holding the tribunician power for the thirty-fourth time'. Augustus assumed the office of Pontifex Maximus in 12 BC upon the death of Lepidus, permanently annexing the supreme priesthood to the principate. The count of tribunician power (Tribunicia Potestas), renewed annually since 23 BC, provides the critical dating criteria: the thirty-fourth tribunician year commenced in the summer of AD 11 and concluded in the summer of AD 12. The neat lettering, standardized interpuncts, and balanced spacing reflect the highest standard of Augustan lapidary epigraphy translated into die engraving.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

Within the system of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC 471 occupies a clearly defined position within the dated aes coinage of Augustus struck at Rome between AD 10 and AD 12. This specific catalogue number is restricted to the copper as bearing the obverse bare head left and the thirty-fourth tribunician count. It sits immediately adjacent to RIC 470, which shares the identical reverse legend and date but displays the bare head of Augustus facing right. The sequence also connects directly with earlier issues from AD 10 to AD 11 carrying TRIBVN POT XXXIII (such as RIC 469) and subsequent issues bearing TRIBVN POT XXXV from AD 12 to AD 13. Contemporary with this copper as, the mint of Rome produced companion denominations in orichalcum, including sestertii and dupondii that frequently highlighted the military successes and titles of Tiberius as designated successor. In contrast, the copper asses of this series remained strictly focused on the person and constitutional authority of Augustus himself. Because the thirty-fourth renewal occurred midway through AD 11, die varieties within RIC 471 demonstrate slight shifts in lettering size and portrait treatment, though the essential typology remains uniform throughout the production cycle.

Circulation, Countermarking, and Find Contexts

As the foundational denomination for retail transactions, asses of RIC 471 entered immediate circulation throughout the Italian peninsula and the western provinces. Finds from urban contexts such as Rome, Ostia, and Pompeii, as well as excavations in military installations along the Rhine and Danube limes, show that late Augustan copper coins traveled rapidly along major trade routes and military logistical corridors. Due to an enduring scarcity of newly minted base metal in peripheral provinces, these coins remained in everyday use for decades, circulating alongside early Claudian and Neronian copper. Extensive circulation along the frontier exposed many of these asses to official countermarking. Roman legionary authorities routinely applied localized punch marks (such as VAR, TIB, AVC, or NCAPR) to validate coin value, certify acceptance for troop pay, or reaffirm official authority during dynastic successions. Wear patterns observed in archaeological deposits reveal that coins of this type often circulated until their surfaces were heavily abraded, remaining functional currency until the monetary reforms of Nero in AD 64 and the Flavian period systematically retired worn Augustan aes from active circulation.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 48-50
2. Coinage in the Roman World. pp. 66-75
3. Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain, I: Auguste. pp. 110-112
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 471. Type Record ric.1(2).aug.471
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (revised edition). p. 78, no. 471
6. The Emperor and the Coinage: Julio-Claudian Studies. pp. 52-67
7. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. pp. 98-102