CNG 103, Lot: 654. Estimate $7500. Sold for $8000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Caesarians. Julius Caesar. Early 46 BC. AV Aureus (21mm, 8.04 g, 9h). Rome mint; A. Hirtius, praetor. Veiled female head (Vesta or Pietas?) right; C • CAESAR COS • TER around / Emblems of the augurate and pontificate: lituus, guttus, and securis; A HIRTIVS PR around lower left. Crawford 466/1; Molinari 512–6 (D105/R310); CRI 56; Calicó 37b-c; Sydenham 1018; RBW 1634–6. Near EF, toned. An interesting engraver’s mistake on the reverse legend.

The production of dies by the mint in Rome was very carefully organized and controlled; this meant that many of the craftsmen employed there were highly specialized. There is good evidence that certain engravers did portraits and figures, while others just did legends. Even though the aurei signed by Aulus Hirtius were made very rapidly and in enormous numbers, it is clear that this specialization process was adhered to. On the reverse, the legend engraver suddenly found that he had misjudged the spacing and had almost ran out of room: he initially realized that he lacked enough room for the last three letters, S PR. So he drastically squeezed in the S!