Augustus Denarius, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A

Monetary Context

The monetary system under Augustus underwent sweeping structural transformations between his assumption of autocratic power after Actium in 31 BC and the consolidation of imperial administration across the provinces. In the earlier decades of the triumvirate, silver production was dominated by military imperatorial mints operating in close coordination with campaigning commanders. Following the constitutional settlements of 27 BC and 23 BC, Augustus sought to stabilize the silver denarius, establishing a reliable fineness near ninety-eight percent pure silver and a standard theoretical weight around one eighty-fourth of a Roman pound, or approximately 3.85 grams. The mid-teens BC marked a crucial period in this stabilization. While the senatorial moneyers in Rome resumed limited coin production around 19 BC, their capacity was insufficient to meet the extensive payroll demands of legionary deployments stationed in Hispania and along the northern frontiers. To address these liquidity requirements, major imperial branch mints were operated in the western provinces, most notably in southern Spain and subsequently at Lugdunum. The denarius defined as RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A formed part of this expansive regional production, providing freshly refined silver coin to facilitate military retirement bonuses, veteran settlements, and broad inter-provincial commerce.

Production and Mint Attribution

In the foundational twentieth-century classification of Roman imperial coinage by Harold Mattingly, this series was initially assigned to an uncertain Spanish mint or broadly attributed to Caesaraugusta. Subsequent detailed numismatic reassessments, particularly by C. H. V. Sutherland in the revised 1984 edition of Roman Imperial Coinage and corroborated by Jean-Baptiste Giard at the Bibliotheque nationale de France, established Colonia Patricia, the capital of Hispania Baetica, as the primary minting center for this distinctive group. The dies from this mint exhibit a coherent, refined stylistic continuity characterized by clean, relief-cut profile portraiture, delicate lettering, and precise linear spacing that contrasts with the earlier rougher military strikes of the Cantabrian Wars. Production was organized on a large scale, utilizing multiple die pairs to strike large quantities of flans prepared from cast silver pellets. Weight distributions for the type center tightly between 3.60 and 3.95 grams, reflecting disciplined weight control within the workshop. While Colonia Patricia remained the primary operational base for these issues between approximately 19 BC and 15 BC, the mint ceased operations shortly thereafter when western silver striking was progressively concentrated at the newly established mint of Lugdunum in Gaul.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A presents the bare head of Augustus turned to the right. The portrait represents the mature Augustan classicizing style that emerged after the political settlement of 27 BC, entirely discarding the agitated, triumviral verism of the 30s BC in favor of calm, idealized features inspired by classical Greek sculpture, particularly the school of Polykleitos. The princeps is rendered with neatly arranged hair locks framing the brow and temples, an even jawline, an aquiline nose, and an expression of dignified restraint. The absence of any wreath, diadem, or divine attribute on the head reflects Augustus's carefully curated public persona as the first citizen of the restored Republic rather than a Hellenistic monarch. Die cutters at Colonia Patricia achieved a high degree of artistic sophistication, producing crisp profiles with well-defined muscular contours along the neck and cleanly modeled ear details. The obverse field is uncluttered, allowing the portrait to occupy the central focal plane while leaving ample margin for the circumscription.

Reverse Iconography and Composition

The reverse composition of the type is an intricate symbolic ensemble celebrating Roman military and civic ideology. At the center rests a circular shield, the clipeus virtutis, inscribed with the letters CL V. The shield is positioned within a rectangular visual axis formed by the four letters S P Q R, which are distributed across the outer corners or quadrants surrounding the shield. Flanking the central shield are two primary emblems of Roman legionary organization. To the left stands a standard surmounted by an eagle, representing the legionary aquila, oriented toward the center. To the right stands an infantry cohortal standard or signum, composed of several decorative phalerae and topped with an open hand or spearhead motif. The entire composition is integrated by the two-part legend SIGNIS RECEPTIS, disposed horizontally or curved along the upper and lower fields. This visual program deliberately merges the memory of the golden shield awarded to Augustus by the Senate in 27 BC for his valor, clemency, justice, and piety with the concrete military restoration of the standards retrieved from the Parthian Empire.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphic structure of RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A is concise yet filled with programmatic weight. On the obverse, the legend reads CAESAR AVGVSTVS, rendered continuously along the border from left to right or divided across the field. This title reflects the foundational honors of the regime, pairing the inherited family name Caesar with the sacral title Augustus granted by the Senate in 27 BC. The reverse legend SIGNIS RECEPTIS translates directly as 'the standards having been recovered,' utilizing the ablative absolute construction to announce an accomplished imperial triumph. On the face of the shield, the abbreviated inscription CL V stands for Clipeus Virtutis, the shield of courage or virtue. Surrounding the shield, the letters S P Q R represent Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and Roman People, who bestowed the honor upon Augustus. The lettering produced at the Colonia Patricia workshop is characterized by classical capital forms with sharply cut serifs, uniform letter height, and balanced spacing, demonstrating the spread of standardized metropolitan epigraphic norms into the western provinces.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of Augustan imperial coinage, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A belongs to the broader SIGNIS RECEPTIS series issued between circa 19 BC and 15 BC across multiple western and eastern workshops. The primary catalyst for the entire series was the diplomatic agreement concluded in 20 BC with King Phraates IV of Parthia, in which the standards lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC and by Lucius Decidius Saxa and Mark Antony in the 30s BC were peacefully surrendered to Rome. While parallel issues commemorating this event were struck at Rome, Pergamum, and eastern moving mints, the Colonia Patricia varieties display specific iconographic arrangements. Type 86A is distinguished by having the bare head facing right on the obverse, paired with the circular shield inscribed CL V between the eagle and standard on the reverse. Neighboring catalogue entries, such as RIC 86B (with portrait facing left) and related issues featuring Mars Ultor or triumphal chariots (such as RIC 80 through 85), represent contemporary or sequential outputs from the same minting establishment during the consolidation of western provincial finances.

Circulation and Monetary Impact

Denarii of type RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A circulated extensively throughout the Roman world, with the highest concentration of findspots recorded in the western provinces, including Hispania, Gallia, and along the Rhine frontier. Because the issue was struck from silver of high purity, these coins were widely accepted for tax payments, state contracts, and interregional trade. Hoard evidence from western Europe shows that SIGNIS RECEPTIS denarii remained in active circulation for many decades after the death of Augustus in AD 14. They appear routinely in Flavian-era deposits and continued to circulate through the second century AD, often showing considerable surface wear, until Nero's debasement in AD 64 and subsequent currency recalls under Trajan gradually purged pre-Neronian high-purity silver from the active money supply. The persistent appearance of these coins in archaeological contexts across the western provinces attests to the effectiveness of the Augustan monetary machinery in integrating provincial coinages into a unified imperial currency.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 68-70
2. Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain, I: Auguste. nos. 1326-1335
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 86A. ric.1(2).aug.86A
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised edition). pp. 50-52, no. 86A