Augustus Gold Aureus, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129

Monetary Context and Imperial Reform

The aureus catalogued as RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129 was produced during a critical period of reorganization in the early Roman Empire. In the late 20s and early teens BC, Augustus consolidated the monetary system that had fallen into fragmentation during the late Republic and civil wars. Gold coinage, which had been struck intermittently and irregularly by Republican imperators and triumvirs primarily to finance military campaigns, was formalized into a pillar of the regular imperial currency. Under the Augustan monetary framework, the gold aureus stood at the pinnacle of a bimetallic and trimetallic denomination structure, tariffed at twenty-five silver denarii or one hundred sestertii. Aurei were not struck for petty commerce or everyday marketplace exchange. Instead, they performed crucial fiscal duties: servicing large state payments, remitting military salaries and retirement bonuses, storing capital in public and private reserves, and providing high-value liquidity across the provinces. The issue of RIC 129 around 18 to 17 BC occurred immediately following Augustus's settlement of political affairs in Spain, coinciding closely with the celebration of the Saecular Games (Ludi Saeculares) of 17 BC. The iconography chosen for this gold issue directly supported imperial ideology by celebrating the dawn of a peaceful, prosperous new age under divine cosmic auspices.

Production and Mint Attribution

Numismatic scholarship attributes RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129 to an active imperial workshop located at Colonia Patricia, modern Córdoba in Hispania Baetica. In earlier nineteenth- and twentieth-century catalogues, such as Harold Mattingly's initial arrangements in BMCRE, various western Augustan issues were grouped broadly under Spanish military mints or occasionally attributed to Caesaraugusta or Nemausus. However, subsequent stylistic and metallurgical investigations, notably synthesized by C. H. V. Sutherland in the revised edition of RIC I, refined the attribution of this distinct group of finely engraved gold and silver issues to Colonia Patricia. The mint operated to meet substantial military expenditures associated with the pacification of the northern Iberian peninsula (the Cantabrian Wars) and subsequent regional administrative infrastructure. The dies for RIC 129 reflect the finest contemporary Roman cutting standards, demonstrating skilled classical naturalism, carefully balanced proportions, and careful flan preparation. Aurei of this series were struck to a theoretical weight standard of approximately 1/42 of a Roman pound (libra), yielding nominal individual specimen weights around 7.85 grams of remarkably pure gold.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129 presents an unadorned, bare head of Augustus facing left. This design intentionally omits any obverse legend, a stylistic choice common among the provincial Spanish gold and silver series of this phase. The absence of textual titles places the entire communicative emphasis on the physical image of the ruler. Sculpted in the serene, idealized neo-Attic style that defined the golden age of Augustan court art, the portrait departs from the harsh veristic traditions of Republican portraiture. The features are youthful, composed, and tranquil, with clearly delineated locks of hair parted across the forehead and temples, an aquiline nose, and a firm, smooth jawline. The left-facing orientation provides an intentional compositional pairing to companion issues within the same mint output that feature the princeps facing right (such as RIC 125 and RIC 128). By leaving the field entirely blank, the engravers elevated the image of Augustus into a self-evident icon of authority recognizable throughout the empire without requiring an accompanying titulature.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of the coin depicts a Capricorn facing right, rendered as a composite creature with the foreparts of a leaping goat and the tail of a fish. The Capricorn holds a spherical terrestrial globe between its forelegs, from which an attached ship's rudder descends. Resting across the creature's back is a laden cornucopia, with fruit and foliage spilling from its horn. Above the Capricorn, the legend AVGVSTVS spans the field. Each component of this imagery carries deep political and astrological significance. While Suetonius recorded Augustus's birthday as September 23 under the sign of Libra, ancient astrological consensus and numismatic evidence indicate that Capricorn was venerated as the sign of his conception (or the planetary ascendant of his nativity), marking the moment divine will ordained his rule. The addition of the globe signifies universal dominion over the inhabited world (oikoumene), while the rudder emphasizes naval mastery and the steering of the ship of state, recalling the decisive victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. Finally, the cornucopia proclaims the Golden Age (saeculum aureum) and economic plenty brought about by the universal peace (Pax Romana) established under Augustan hegemony.

Epigraphy and Legends

The epigraphic program of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129 is exceptionally restrained. The obverse is entirely anepigraphic, carrying no lettering. The reverse carries only a single word: AVGVSTVS. The text is engraved in classic Roman square capitals, characterized by crisp, well-spaced letterforms with modest serifs. By employing only the honorific cognomen granted to Octavian by the Senate in 27 BC, the legend encapsulates the sacrosanct, venerable character of the ruler. The placement of AVGVSTVS above the celestial creature visually identifies the ruler with the divine sign itself, reinforcing the ideological message that the princeps and the cosmic order were intimately aligned. Because no consulships, tribunician power enumerations, or imperatorial acclamations are present, the coin relies upon absolute simplicity, eschewing administrative formulas in favor of monumental naming.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification established by C. H. V. Sutherland in RIC I (second edition), type 129 is placed within the Spanish mint of Colonia Patricia, assigned to the chronological window of circa 18 to 17 BC. It forms part of a closely unified typological sequence sharing identical or complementary obverse and reverse schemes. Closely allied types include RIC 125 (aureus with bare head right and Capricorn right), RIC 126 (denarius with bare head right), and RIC 130 (denarius with bare head left). Further variations within this broad Spanish horizon feature the Capricorn holding the globe and rudder without the cornucopia, or turning left rather than right. In the French national collection, Jean-Baptiste Giard catalogued these related issues under the mint of 'Patras (?)' in his first volume before scholarly consensus firmly re-anchored them to Colonia Patricia. The production period of 18 to 17 BC fits securely between the completion of the Cantabrian campaigns and the subsequent transfer of major imperial gold and silver striking operations to Lugdunum around 15 to 12 BC.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Survival

As high-value gold bullion coinage, specimens of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129 experienced a distinctly different circulation life than silver denarii or base-metal aes. Aurei circulated primarily through official state channels, private financial banking, and elite trade networks, and they were frequently stored as long-term hoards. Gold pieces moved widely across the empire despite their provincial striking origins, appearing in hoards discovered in Spain, Gaul, Italy, and along frontier military installations. Because gold maintained high intrinsic value and did not circulate in fast daily transactions, specimens often experienced relatively slow wear compared to contemporary silver. However, vast quantities of early Augustan aurei were eventually melted down during Nero's monetary reform of AD 64, which lowered the gold standard to approximately 1/45 of a pound (around 7.27 grams). Unreformed, heavier pre-Neronian aurei such as RIC 129 were systematically gathered by bankers and the imperial treasury for recoinage, making surviving specimens prized witnesses to the formative phase of the Roman imperial monetary system.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 60-63
2. Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain, I: Auguste. nos. 1354-1360
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 129. ric.1(2).aug.129
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. I (revised edition). p. 45, no. 129
5. De Vita Caesarum: Divus Augustus. ch. 94