Symbol of Augustus

CNG 94, Lot: 1139. Estimate $15000. Sold for $55000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.88 g, 12h). Pergamum mint. Struck 19 BC. AVGVSTVS, bare head right / Sphinx, with wings raised, seated right. RIC I 512 corr. (head left); Calicó 156; BMCRE 682; BN 973 (same dies); Biaggi 153 (same rev. die). VF, a couple test cuts on edge, other scattered marks. Very rare.

The Sphinx, the mythological creature whose riddle was solved by Oedipus, became one of the specific symbols associated with Augustus, including its use on his personal seal.