AVG and TICAE on AUGUSTUS AS (25 BC)

(26mm - 10.8g). Obv: Bust right (CAESAR), countermarked "AVG" (AVGUSTUS) & "TICAE" (TIBERIUS CAESAR). Rev: Legend within wreath (AVGVSTVS). Minted in Ephesus. Reference for this coin is RIC 486. Augustus was adopted by Julius Caesar as heir. After the assassination of Caesar, Octavian and Mark Antony fought together and won the resulting Civil War. They shared the rule of the Roman Empire. Antony's alliance with Cleopatra provoked a split with Octavian that led to a new Civil War. At the Battle of Actium (31 BC) Antony was defeated and Octavian became the sole ruler of the Empire. He was declared "Augustus" and became the proto-type emperor of Rome.