Coinage in Gaul 15 BC-AD 14 – Fine Style Portrait

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 833. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (3.82 g, 7h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck 15 BC. AVGVSTVS DIVI • F, bare head right / IMP • X in exergue, Augustus, bareheaded and togate, seated left on curule chair set on daïs, extending his right hand toward two soldiers, each carrying parazonia and presenting laurel branches in their right hands. RIC I 165a; Lyon 13; RSC 133; BMCRE 445-6 = BMCRR Gaul 157-8; BN 1366-9. EF, handsome gray and iridescent toning, traces of die rust on obverse. Artistic portrait.

By 16 BC, Spain was finally pacified and the need for active legions was moving towards the Rhine and Danube frontiers. With the visit to Gaul by Augustus in 16-15 BC, the Imperial Western Mint was transferred from its headquarters in Tarraco to Lugdunum. Lugdunum was a logical new location as it was not too far from Italy. It was close enough to supply the monetary needs for Spain and well protected as a major city to supply the military payments needed for the upcoming war in Germany.