Gold Aureus of Gaius (Caligula), 7.73 g.
Title
Gold Aureus of Gaius (Caligula), 7.73 g.
Creator
Gaius Germanicus (Caligula)
Date
40 CE
Description
Obverse: Laureate head of Gaius to right; C(AIVS) CAESAR AVG(VSTVS) PON(TIFEX)M(AXIMVS) TR(IBVNICIA) POT(ESTATE) III CO(N)S(VL) III: Gaius Caesar Augustus, pontifex maximus, with tribunician power for the third time, consul for the third time.
Reverse: Radiate head of Augustus to right; DIVVS AVG(VSTVS) PATER PATRIAE: Divine Augustus, father of the country.
Style/Period: Roman Empire
Much of Caligula's coinage honored his family members and emphasized dynastic continuity. The great-grandson of Augustus, he dedicated the Temple of Divine Augustus begun by Tiberius (see 91.128), and he both honored Augustus and drew attention to his relationship to him by placing his portrait on the reverse of these coins. Augustus is depicted as a divinity wearing a crown with rays of the sun god, Sol.
Caligula's portrait on the obverse conforms to the general type of the Julio-Claudian successors of Augustus, inspired by the hairstyle and idealized features of portraits of Augustus. In the case of Caligula, however, the idealization may have been more extreme, since the biographer Suetonius describes him as unattractive and balding (Caligula, 50).
-- Carol L. Lawton
Bibliography: C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage I: from 31 BC to AD 69, rev. ed. (London 1984) 23.
Caligula's portrait on the obverse conforms to the general type of the Julio-Claudian successors of Augustus, inspired by the hairstyle and idealized features of portraits of Augustus. In the case of Caligula, however, the idealization may have been more extreme, since the biographer Suetonius describes him as unattractive and balding (Caligula, 50).
-- Carol L. Lawton
Bibliography: C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage I: from 31 BC to AD 69, rev. ed. (London 1984) 23.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Bought from Abner Kreisberg, 1970.
Identifier
91.124
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Roman, Empire, Gaius, Caligula, Augustus
Files
Citation
Gaius Germanicus (Caligula), “Gold Aureus of Gaius (Caligula), 7.73 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/262.