Augustus: Silver denarius Coinage

Coinage Scope and Selected Issues

The Silver denarius coinage issued in the name of Augustus includes issues distinguished by their portraits, inscriptions, reverse designs and mint attribution. This study concentrates on the Gaius and Lucius dynastic issues of Lugdunum, rather than presenting one design as the entire denomination.

The issue dates and detailed iconographic descriptions below apply to the discussed groups, not automatically to every coin bearing the ruler's name. Other types and mints require their own catalogue comparison. An individual gallery coin must be assessed from its own inscriptions and institutional record; its measurements and provenance do not define the whole coinage.

Historical Context

Following the decisive naval victory at Actium in 31 BCE and the constitutional settlements of 27 and 23 BCE, Imperator Caesar Augustus consolidated supreme authority over the Roman Mediterranean. Central to the stabilization of the early Principate was a comprehensive restructuring of the currency. Augustus replaced the fluctuating, debased issues of the late civil wars with a structured trimetallic monetary system. In this reformed framework, the silver denarius was struck at 84 to the Roman pound (libra of approximately 327.45 grams), giving a theoretical unreduced mass of approximately 3.898 grams, with modal circulation weights clustering between 3.65 and 3.85 grams. Fixed exchange rates unified the denominations: one gold aureus equaled 25 silver denarii, while one denarius was tariffed at 4 brass sestertii, 8 brass dupondii, or 16 copper asses.

Between 27 and 15 BCE, imperial silver was struck at several regional centers, including peninsular Spain (Colonia Patricia, Emerita, Caesaraugusta), the senatorial mint in Rome under the supervision of the triumviri monetales, and eastern provincial installations. Around 15 BCE, Augustus established a major imperial mint facility at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France). Located strategically near the Rhine and Danubian frontiers, Lugdunum permitted direct specie distribution to the western legions while operating under immediate imperial oversight. Following the closure of regular precious metal striking at the Rome mint around 12-10 BCE, Lugdunum became the preeminent producer of gold aurei and silver denarii for the Western Empire.

Lacking surviving biological sons, Augustus built his dynastic succession policy around the progeny of his daughter Julia and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. In 17 BCE, Augustus adopted their two eldest sons, Gaius Caesar (born 20 BCE) and Lucius Caesar (born 17 BCE). On 5 February 2 BCE, the Roman Senate, the equestrian order, and the plebs acclaimed Augustus Pater Patriae ("Father of the Fatherland"). Concurrently, unprecedented honors were bestowed upon the adolescent princes: both were designated to the consulship five years in advance (Gaius to enter office in 1 CE, Lucius in 4 CE) and acclaimed Principes Iuventutis ("Leaders of the Youth") by the equestrian order. To broadcast this dynastic plan across the provinces and military garrisons, Lugdunum launched the massive "C L CAESARES" coinage, which became one of the most prolific silver issues of classical antiquity.

Selected Issues: Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse displays a right-facing portrait of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath. Stylistically, the head reflects the idealized, classicizing "Prima Porta" court type adopted across imperial statuary, cameos, and coinage after 27 BCE. The portrait deliberately departs from the stark, weathered realism (verism) that characterized late Republican aristocratic portraiture, offering instead an ageless, serene, and harmonious image of the princeps.

The laurel wreath encircles the head, tied at the occiput with two ribbon fillets that drape downward behind the neck. In Roman visual language, the laurel served a dual purpose: it celebrated ongoing imperatorial victories along the frontiers while also referencing sacral protection, Apollo, and the civic restoration of the commonwealth.

Selected Issues: Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse bears a single Latin peripheral inscription in monumental Roman capitals:

• Inscribed Legend: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE
• Transliteration: Caesar Augustus Divi Filius, Pater Patriae
• English Translation: "Caesar Augustus, son of the Deified [Julius Caesar], Father of the Fatherland."

The text begins at the lower left perimeter (approximately 5 o'clock) and continues clockwise around the rim to terminate at the lower right. The legend combines Augustus's standard divine filiation (DIVI F) with the prestigious civic title PATER PATRIAE. Because the acclamation was voted on 5 February 2 BCE, as confirmed by literary and epigraphic sources, this legend provides an absolute terminus post quem for the entire series.

Selected Issues: Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse composition focuses entirely on the dynastic heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar. The two young men stand frontally, turned slightly toward one another, each clothed in the civilian toga (togati). This attire underscores their civic character, constitutional integration, and reverence for traditional Roman magistracies.

Each youth rests his inner hand on the upper edge of a round, bossed parade shield (clipeus) set vertically on the exergual ground line. Behind each shield rises a vertical spear shaft (hasta). These attributes depict the ceremonial silver shields and silver spears presented to the brothers by the equestrian order upon their acclamation as Principes Iuventutis, an honor recorded in Augustus's own funerary testament (Res Gestae Divi Augusti 14.2).

Suspended in the upper central field between the spears are two traditional implements of Roman state religion:

1. Simpulum (sacrificial ladle): The sacral emblem of the College of Pontiffs (Pontifices), marking Gaius Caesar's co-optation into the pontificate in 6 BCE.
2. Lituus (curved augural staff): The staff of the College of Augurs (Augures), commemorating Lucius Caesar's election to the augurate in 2 BCE.

Together, the shields, spears, and sacral instruments encapsulate the military, civic, and religious preparation of the prospective imperial successors.

Selected Issues: Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscription is executed in Latin monumental capitals and organized across two primary zones:

• Exergual Legend: C L CAESARES
• Peripheral Legend: AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT
• Combined Inscription: C L CAESARES AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT
• Transliteration: Caius [et] Lucius Caesares, Augusti Filii, Consules Designati, Principes Iuventutis
• English Translation: "Gaius and Lucius Caesars, sons of Augustus, consuls-designate, leaders of the youth."

The personal names of the princes are placed directly beneath the exergual line on which they stand, anchoring the compositional base. The remaining titular text curves clockwise along the perimeter of the coin, beginning on the left flank and running over the heads of the figures down to the right. The legend explicitly records both their designated consular status and their equestrian honorific title.

Typology and Documented Variants

The Gaius and Lucius dynastic series formed an extensive multi-metallic emission struck at Lugdunum. While standard reference literature sometimes groups the whole family under RIC I (2nd ed.) 205-212, the denominations are split between gold and silver:

• RIC 205: 4-aureus gold medallion (laureate head right / Gaius and Lucius standing with shields and spears; simpulum left, lituus right).
• RIC 206: Gold aureus (simpulum turned right, lituus turned left; simpulum left, lituus right).
• RIC 207: Silver denarius (simpulum turned right, lituus turned left; simpulum left, lituus right).
• RIC 208: Silver denarius (simpulum turned left, lituus turned right; simpulum left, lituus right).
• RIC 209: Gold aureus (positions transposed: lituus on left turned right, simpulum on right turned left).
• RIC 210: Silver denarius (positions transposed: lituus on left, simpulum on right).
• RIC 211: Silver denarius (simpulum right, lituus left; marked with a letter or symbol X below each implement).
• RIC 212: Silver denarius (simpulum left, lituus right; marked with a letter or symbol X below each implement).

The vast majority of surviving silver denarii belong to the standard types RIC 207 and 208, which are distinguished primarily by the direction in which the simpulum and lituus handles face.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Numismatic and historical research surrounding the Gaius and Lucius series centers on three principal issues:

1. Terminal Date of Production: In standard catalogues, Harold Mattingly and C. H. V. Sutherland dated the issue strictly between 2 BCE and 4 CE, postulating that production ceased upon the sudden deaths of both princes (Lucius at Massalia in 2 CE and Gaius in Lycia in 4 CE). However, archaeological discoveries at Augustan military bases along the Rhine and Lippe, notably the site of the Varus disaster at Kalkriese (9 CE) and the Haltern fortresses, yielded large deposits of fresh, minimally worn Gaius and Lucius denarii and aurei. Scholars such as Jean-Baptiste Giard and Reinhard Wolters have argued that Lugdunum continued striking the type well after 4 CE, perhaps down to c. 11/12 CE. This continued production may have been authorized under the lex Valeria Cornelia of 5 CE, which created ten new centuries in the comitia centuriata to honor the deceased princes posthumously.

2. The 'X' Mark on RIC 211-212: The appearance of an X beneath each priestly implement on RIC 211 and 212 has elicited divergent theories. Hypotheses include an internal mint or officina control mark, a decennalian commemoration, or an archaic reference to the denarius's original tariff of 10 asses (though that tariff had been altered to 16 asses more than a century earlier). In the absence of contemporary textual records, its precise function remains unresolved.

3. Ancient Forgeries (Fourrées): Due to the high purchasing power and broad acceptance of Augustan silver denarii, ancient counterfeiters produced substantial quantities of copper-core, silver-plated copies (fourrées or subaerati). These unauthorized pieces frequently surface in military and provincial contexts, requiring weight analysis and close examination of flan surfaces to confirm official status.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage. Vol. I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). pp. 4-6, 24-28, 55-56, nos. 205-212
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. xviii-xx, 88-91, nos. 519-543
3. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting, Cambridge University Press (2015). First-century silver coinage; not a direct source for Severan fineness.
4. Mints not Mines: a macroscale investigation of Roman silver coinage. Internet Archaeology 61 (2023)
5. De Vita Caesarum: Divus Augustus. Chapter 58
6. Res Gestae Divi Augusti. Chapters 14.1-2, 35.1
7. Die Organisation der Münzprägung im Augusteischen Gallien. Revue Numismatique 154 (1999), pp. 113-130
8. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 205. ric.1(2).aug.205
9. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 206. ric.1(2).aug.206
10. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 207. ric.1(2).aug.207
11. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 208. ric.1(2).aug.208
12. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 209. ric.1(2).aug.209
13. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 210. ric.1(2).aug.210
14. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 211. ric.1(2).aug.211
15. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 212. ric.1(2).aug.212
16. The Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage, Part I: From Augustus to Domitian. BAR Supplementary Series 5 (1976), pp. 8-14