Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 641. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Octavian. 32-31 BC. AR Denarius (3.90 g, 9h). Italian (Rome?) mint. Draped bust of Pax right, wearing stephane, hair is looped at back and two ringlets fall down behind and over neck; behind, cornucopia; before, olive branch / CAESAR DIVI F across field, Octavian, in military attire, advancing right, holding spear over left shoulder in left hand and raising right hand in adlocutio. RIC I 253; CRI 400; RSC 72; BMCRE 611 = BMCRR Rome 4329-32; BN 6-11. Good VF, toned.

Ex Domus Julia Collection (Münzen und Medaillen 81, 18 September 1995), lot 150.

This coin is one of the numerous allegorical types employed during the period leading up to Actium as Octavian was engaged in a war of propaganda against Antony and Cleopatra. The obverse shows Pax, the bringer of abundance. The reverse displays Octavian in the attitude of adlocutio, or the commander in chief addressing the troops. By combining these two symbols, Octavian addressing the eventual showdown with his enemy. In the end, his military prowess would bring a final and long-lasting peace to an empire tired by civil war.