Ancient Rome - 15-13 BCE Augustus AV Aureus NGC AU

Beautiful and rare Aureus of Augustus to add to your collection!

15-13 BC Augustus AV Aureus graded NGC AU. Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5. 8.04g. Obverse: AVGVSTVS DIVI F - Head of Augustus, bare, to right. Reverse: a bull facing right, charging. Under bull in exergue is IMP. X. Sources: RIC I² 166a, Calicó 212. Beautiful piece with an almost perfectly centered obverse.

Augustus of Prima Porta. Photo: Wikipedia Commons.

The large bull coinage of Augustus was produced at the Gallic mint of Lugdunum during a time of aggressive expansion for Rome. The bull on his coinage is an evocative homage to the city of Thurium in Lucania, to which Octavian's family had a strong connection. The father of Octavian, Gaius Octavius, served as Praetor. While serving in that role, he led Roman forces to victory over a band of rebellious slaves near Thurium in the year 60 BC.

More than likely in honor of this Victory, Octavius conferred on his then three-year-old son the nickname ‘Thurinus.’ The following year saw the death of Octavius and afterwards Octavian dropped ‘Thurinus’ from his name completely. However, after his rise to power Augustus evoked the familial connection by using a charging bull (the type used by Thurium in its Greek coinage of previous centuries) in his own coinage.