Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 1319. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Octavian. 30-29 BC. AR Denarius (3.77 g, 2h). Italian (Rome?) mint. Bare head right / Octavian’s Actian arch (arcus Octaviani) surmounted by Octavian in facing triumphal quadriga; IMP CAESAR across architrave. RIC I 267; CRI 422; RSC 123. Good VF, a little porous, tiny edge nick between 11 and 12 o’clock. An important architectural reverse.

This single-span arch celebrating Octavian’s victory at Actium was built on the same site as the triple-span arch, the arcus Augusti. The latter arch, built in 19 BC in celebration of the recovery by Augustus of the famous standards lost by Antony and Crassus, replaced the smaller arch depicted on this coin.