The
Roman Empire The Civil Wars, 68 – 69
Aureus,
Spain and
Gaul 68-69, AV 7.25 g.
DIVVS –
AVGVSTVS Radiate head of
Augustus r.
Rev. PAX Pax standing l., holding
caduceus, ears of barley and poppies. C –.
BMC –.
RIC 114. CBN 65.
Martin A24B (these dies). Calicó 454 (these dies).
Villaronga Benages 4127 (this coin). Extremely
rare and an issue of tremendous fascination and historical importance. Light traces of edge filing and a graffito on
obverse field, otherwise
very fine Ex NAC sale 52, 2009, 356. The Civil War of A.D. 68-69 provides a wealth of coinage, some identifiable by issuer, and others that can only be described as ‘anonymous’ because no authority is named. It appears that ‘anonymous’ coinage was issued by the emperors
Galba and
Vitellius as well as by
Vindex, the Gallic rebel who sparked the fall of
Nero, and the
German nationalist Julius Civilis. The mints appear to have been located in
Spain,
Gaul,
Germany, Northern
Italy, and perhaps in
North Africa. Like many coins in the ‘anonymous’ series, this
aureus refers to
Augustus – an ideal
choice since
his image was visible on coins that
still circulated widely. Furthermore, in those troubled times
his principate (however much it was criticised in its own time) must have been seen as an inspirational Golden Age. The
obverse shows the
radiate head of
Divus Augustus is modelled after the
aurei of
Augustus’ great-grandson
Caligula, though it has a truncated
inscription. The
style is reasonably convincing, even to the point of retaining some measure of
Caligula’s features. The
reverse is not a match for any Caligulan
obverse, as it shows
Pax holding a
caduceus and a grouping a poppy and grain stalks. Civil war issues do not usually copy their prototypes precisely, and they can be distinguished from the originals not only by stylistic and epigraphic differences, but also by their lower
weights. This
aureus, for example, weighs 7.25 grams, considerably lighter than the Caligulan originals, which typically weigh 7.70 to 7.85 grams. NAC AUC 78
