Egypt Becomes a Roman Province

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 662. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $4750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Octavian. 28 BC. AR Denarius (3.78 g, 6h). Ephesus mint(?). CAESAR COS • VI, bare head right; lituus behind / AEGVPTO above, CAPTA below, crocodile standing right with jaws open. RIC I 275a (Rome); CRI 430; RSC 2; BMCRE 650 = BMCRR East 243; BN 905. Good VF, toned, small scratch under tone. Rare.

Following the decisive battle of Actium in August of 30 BC, Octavian invaded Egypt and founded the Prefecture of Egypt, leaving intact the Ptolemaic cultural and administrative structures. Octavian struck this issue to commemorate that event; the reverse depicts a crocodile, the symbol of the country and, locally, an important deity.

Prideaux suggests that the unaligned dies argue for a non-Asian mint location. Furthermore, the lituus (imperium proconsularis) on the obverse clearly indicates a mint located in a consular province. At the time there were only two: Asia and Africa. If indeed it were Africa, one might consider Carthage, that province’s capital.