Augustus Gold Aureus, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 512

Monetary Context and Imperial Reform

The monetary reforms initiated under Augustus marked the systematic reorganization of the Roman currency system after decades of civil conflict. Following the annexation of Egypt and the administrative settlement of the eastern Mediterranean in the 20s and late teens BC, Augustus established a coherent bimetallic and trimetallic currency structure anchored by the gold aureus and silver denarius. The aureus was tariffed at twenty-five silver denarii or one hundred sestertii, serving as the highest-denomination currency of the Roman state. While large-scale gold production had historically been sporadic and military during the Late Republic, the early imperial administration transformed the aureus into a regularized vehicle for large payments, inter-provincial trade, military salaries, and treasury reserves. In this transitional period before the centralization of western gold and silver minting at Lugdunum, selected regional workshops in the eastern provinces, notably Pergamum, were commissioned to produce high-value coinage that adhered to strict Roman metrological standards while addressing the immediate fiscal demands of the empire's eastern administration.

Production and Mint Attribution

The attribution of this aureus to the mint of Pergamum in the province of Asia stems from comprehensive stylistic and metallurgical studies conducted by twentieth-century numismatists. While earlier nineteenth-century scholarship frequently assigned eastern imperial gold and silver to vague eastern or Syrian workshops, Harold Mattingly and C. H. V. Sutherland established the close stylistic integration between these aurei and contemporary Asian silver cistophori struck at Pergamum. The mint was fully equipped to handle major imperial contracts, possessing experienced Hellenistic engravers capable of executing refined portraits and intricate animal motifs. The blanks were carefully cast and prepared to conform to the early Augustan gold standard of forty-two coins per Roman pound (libra), yielding an intended theoretical weight around 7.85 grams with high gold fineness. Striking was performed with fixed or semi-fixed manual dies, leaving characteristic smooth flans and sharp, high-relief detailing that reflect the highest level of craftsmanship available in Asia Minor.

Obverse Iconography and Engraving Style

The obverse of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 512 displays a bare head of Augustus oriented to the left. The leftward orientation is notably less common within the Pergamene gold series than the corresponding right-facing bust, providing a distinctive visual dynamic. The portraiture embodies the hallmark neo-classical Augustan aesthetic developed in the aftermath of Actium, characterized by youthful, idealized features, an unlined brow, and the iconic parted locks of hair over the forehead. Rejecting the harsh verism of late Republican portraiture, the Pergamene engravers rendered the princeps with tranquil, divine majesty reminiscent of Classical Greek sculpture, yet retained unmistakable individuality. The absence of a laurel wreath, lituus, or other triumphal accoutrements underscores Augustus' deliberate civil persona during this period, presenting him as a magistrate and restorer of peace rather than an overt Hellenistic monarch.

Reverse Design: The Augustan Sphinx

The reverse type depicts a sphinx seated right, rendered with wings recurved and a raised tail, sitting upon an exergual line without any accompanying legend. The choice of the sphinx is deeply rooted in Augustan personal symbolism. According to Suetonius in his Divus Augustus and Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, Augustus inherited two identical signet rings from his mother depicting a sphinx, which he employed as his personal seal on official dispatches, edicts, and private correspondence during the triumviral era and early Principate. In classical and Hellenistic lore, the sphinx symbolized wisdom, enigmatic silence, guardianship, and sovereign vigilance. By translating his private signet onto imperial gold, Augustus subtly affirmed his personal authority over state finance and state secrets. The absence of a reverse inscription focuses absolute attention on this potent emblem, creating a stark, elegant composition that resonated with both Roman elites and Greek provincials accustomed to sphinx imagery on local civic coinages.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The epigraphic program of this coin is exceptionally restrained. The obverse bears the sole inscription AVGVSTVS, placed vertically or curving along the margin behind or before the portrait. This simple title, conferred by the Roman Senate in January 27 BC, encapsulates the princeps' religious sanctity, revered prestige, and political ascendancy without invoking contentious monarchical or dictatorial offices. The lettering is cleanly cut in square classical capitals, exhibiting consistent letter-spacing and well-formed serifs typical of experienced eastern diesinkers. The reverse is entirely anepigraphic, carrying neither the customary imperial offices, consulships, tribunician dates, nor the mint signature. This intentional textual economy allows the coin's iconography to function autonomously, relying on the immediate legibility of the imperial name and the universally recognized personal device of the ruler.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology established in the second edition of Roman Imperial Coinage, type 512 forms a matched pair with RIC 511, which features the identical sphinx reverse paired with a right-facing bare head of Augustus. The series is closely related to the Pergamene silver cistophori struck around 19 BC to 18 BC, several of which also incorporate the sphinx as a reverse device or subsidiary symbol. The chronological placement between 19 BC and 18 BC is firmly anchored by Augustus' diplomatic resolution of the Parthian question in 20 BC and his subsequent return through Asia Minor and Greece to Rome in 19 BC. The celebratory emissions produced at Pergamum during this window commemorated the re-establishment of eastern security and the return of the captured Roman standards. The left-facing portrait variety was struck from a restricted number of die pairs compared to RIC 511, marking it as a deliberate but limited variant within this coherent Pergamene precious-metal program.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Survival

Due to its high intrinsic value and pure gold content, the aureus of RIC 512 did not circulate as everyday market money but was reserved for substantial commercial transactions, high-level administrative distributions, and inter-provincial settlements. Many surviving specimens exhibit minimal wear, indicating that they were retained in official vaults, elite savings collections, or military stashes for long periods. Gold issues produced in the eastern provinces frequently moved westward through military disbursement or administrative re-centralization, occasionally surfacing in European and Mediterranean coin hoards alongside western aurei. Later in his reign, Augustus discontinued the sphinx as his signet seal after the motif generated satirical commentary regarding its riddles and ambiguity, replacing it with the portrait of Alexander the Great and ultimately his own likeness. Consequently, gold coins bearing the sphinx remained limited to this transitional issue, ensuring that surviving specimens remain rare physical witnesses to early imperial iconographic experimentation.

References

1. Roman Provincial Coinage, Volume I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. pp. 378-382
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 112-114
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). p. 81, no. 512
4. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. pp. 37-43