553. Augustus AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in the northern Peloponnnesos, 21 BC. AVGVSTVS, bare head of Augustus right / Hexastyle temple of Zeus at Olympia, seen from front, round shield in pediment and palmettes on roof; IOVI OLVM across fields. RIC 472; BMC 665; BN 939; C. 182. 3.33g, 19mm, 4h. Rare. Extremely Fine.
500
This coin was issued while Augustus was traveling east across the Peloponnesos after having arrived at Patrai. The site of its production is not known - it may have been produced at Elis or even at Patrai. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, built between 472 and 456 BC, was an ancient temple; the very model of the fully-developed classical Greek temple of the Doric order. It stood in the most famous sanctuary of Greece, which had been dedicated to local and Pan-Hellenic deities and had probably been established towards the end of the Mycenaean period. The Altis, the enclosure with its sacred grove, open-air altars and the tumulus of Pelops, was first formed during the tenth and ninth centuries BC. The temple housed the Statue of Zeus - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Chryselephantine statue was was made by the sculptor Phidias in his workshop on the site at Olympia, taking about twelve years to complete, and it stood approximately 13 metres (43 ft) high, occupying the whole width of the aisle in the temple built to house it. “It seems that if Zeus were to stand up,” the geographer Strabo noted early in the first century BC, “he would unroof the temple.” In his right hand he held a figure of Nike, the goddess of victory, also made from ivory and gold, and in his left hand, a sceptre made with many kinds of metal, with an eagle perched on the top. His sandals were made of gold and so was his robe. His garments were carved with animals and with lilies. The throne was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony, and ivory. This statue was the most famous work in all of Greece. In 426 AD, Theodosius II ordered the destruction of the sanctuary, and earthquakes in 522 and 551 devastated the ruins and left the Temple of Zeus partially buried.
554. Augustus AR Denarius. L. Aquillius Florus, moneyer. Rome, 19 BC. Draped bust of Virtus right, wearing helmet with a long crest and feather on side, L•AQVILLIVS FLORVS•III•VIR around / Augustus driving biga of elephants left, holding laurel branch over their backs; AVGVSTVS above; CAESAR below. RIC 301; BMC 36; C. 354. 3.66g, 20mm, 2h. Very Rare. Good Extremely Fine.
1,500
An exceptionally difficult coin to find in good condition. This example is the best to have been offered in at least a decade. The obverse of this coin is taken from the issues of the moneyer’s ancestor, Mn. Aquillius who struck coins in 71 BC. The reverse type, also used by the moneyer’s two colleagues M. Durmius and P. Petronius Turpilianus, probably refers to the events of the previous year, when Armenia was “reduced under the power of the Roman people”, as Velleius puts it. In 20 BC, the Armenians sent messengers to Augustus to tell him that they no longer wanted Artaxias II as their king, and asked that his brother Tigranes (then in Roman custody in Alexandria) be installed in his place. Augustus readily agreed, and Tiberius was sent into Armenia at the head of his legions to depose Artaxias. Before they arrived, however, Artaxias was assassinated by some of his other relatives, and the Romans put Tigranes on the throne unopposed.
555. Augustus AR Denarius. L. Aquillius Florus, moneyer. Rome, 19-18 BC. CAESAR AVGVSTVS, bare head of Augustus right / L•AQVILLIVS FLORVS•III•VIR, open flower with six petals seen from above. RIC 309; BMC 46; BN 183; C. 364. 3.57g, 21mm. Very Rare. Fleur De Coin. A bright, lustrous and exceptionally sharp example of this very rare type. Certainly one of the finest known.
1,500
Punning allusions were a well-established tradition on coins of the Roman Republic, and we find a number of them on coins from the middle of Augustus’s reign. This superb denarius shows a flower in bloom with the moneyer’s name L. Aquillius Florus around it. The similarity of the Latin floris (meaning a flower or a blossom) to the moneyer’s name florus would not have been lost on recipients of this coin. That a coin type of such a personal nature was struck is evidence of Augustus’ desire to restore the semblance of the old Republican institutions. Indeed, he restored the appearance of moneyers’ names on coinage in 19 BC after they had been absent for more than a generation. Augustus allowed moneyers to strike coins with their names and personalized designs until 12 BC and thereafter he allowed the tradition to linger until 4 BC in a somewhat more constrained fashion with moneyers’ names still appearing on dupondii, asses and quadrantes of generic designs.
155