Gold Aureus of Augustus, 7.76 g.
Title
Gold Aureus of Augustus, 7.76 g.
Creator
Augustus
Date
9-8 B.C.E.
Description
Obverse: Laureate head of Augustus facing right; AVGVSTVS DIVI F(ILIVS): Augustus, son of a god (the Divine Julius Caesar).
Reverse: Augustus, togate, seated to left on stool on platform, extending right to infant held toward him by figure wearing cloak; in exergue, IMP(ERATOR) XIIII: imperator for the fourteenth time.
Style/Period: Roman, Empire
A major goal of Augustan policy in the West was to move the western frontier of the empire from the Alps, close enough to allow incursions into Italy from the tribes to the north, to the Rhine and eventually to the Elbe rivers. Augustus worked out the strategy for the campaign while he was in Lugdunum (modern Lyons) from 16 to 13 BCE.
From 12 to 9 BCE there were successes under his stepsons, Drusus and Tiberius, which were celebrated on the reverse of this coin issued in Lugdunum depicting a defeated German presenting a child to the seated emperor. These victories were soon followed by revolts, however, and the Roman forces were eventually forced back to the Rhine.
-- Carol L. Lawton
Bibliography: C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage I: from 31 BC to AD 69, rev. ed. (London 1984) 201a.
From 12 to 9 BCE there were successes under his stepsons, Drusus and Tiberius, which were celebrated on the reverse of this coin issued in Lugdunum depicting a defeated German presenting a child to the seated emperor. These victories were soon followed by revolts, however, and the Roman forces were eventually forced back to the Rhine.
-- Carol L. Lawton
Bibliography: C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage I: from 31 BC to AD 69, rev. ed. (London 1984) 201a.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Bought from Abner Kreisberg, October 5, 1970.
Identifier
91.110
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Roman Empire, Augustus, togate, infant
Files
Citation
Augustus, “Gold Aureus of Augustus, 7.76 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/244.