The First of Thirteen Consulships

294, Lot: 609. Estimate $30000. Sold for $27000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Octavian and Divus Julius Caesar. Late Summer-Autumn 43 BC. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.88 g, 3h). Military mint traveling with Octavian in Italy. C • CAESAR • COS • PO(NT) • (AV)G •, bare head of Octavian right / C • CAESAR • DICT • PERP • PONT • (MA)X •, laureate head of Julius Caesar right. Crawford 490/2; Bahrfeldt 28; Calicó 52; CRI 132; Sydenham 1321. Near VF, scattered marks, traces of deposits. Extremely rare.

In the summer of 43 BC, following the Battle of Mutina, Octavian demanded from the Senate one of the consulships recently left vacant by the deaths of Hirtius and Pansa. When the Senate refused, Octavian marched to Rome with an army of eight legions to organize consular elections. The obverse legend demonstrates this issue was struck after Octavian became consul with his uncle, Q. Pedius, on 19 August (the first of thirteen consulships held by Octavian/Augustus), no doubt as payment to his military forces.

This issue marks the first appearance of the pairing of portraits of Octavian and Caesar on obverse and reverse, meant to underscore Octavian’s role as the rightful heir of the slain dictator (Antony issued denarii pairing his and Caesar’s portraits in April of the same year). Sear (CRI p. 89) notes: “The portraiture on this issue is of superior style, suggesting perhaps that an engraver from the Capitoline mint was seconded to the staff of Octavian’s military establishment in his camp outside the city. This artist probably remained with Octavian when he marched north, for his work appears to be recognizable in the issue of aurei struck later in the year to commemorate the formation of the Triumvirate.”