Octavian as Augustus, 27 BC – 14 AD. Aureus, Lugdunum 13-14, AV 7.91 g. CAESAR AVG DIVI F PATER PATRIAE Laureate head r. Rev. PONTIF – MAXIM Pax-Livia figure seated r., holding vertical sceptre and branch. C 222. BMC 544. Bahrfeldt 236. RIC 219. CBN 1691. Calicó 261.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, possibly the finest specimen in
private hands of this extremely difficult issue. Minor marks on obverse,
otherwise extremely fine.

This extremely rare aureus of Augustus is a very important issue as it set the typological model for the vast series of aurei struck by his successor, Tiberius, which became an international trade coinage. Indeed, the Tiberian version of this type played a major role in the luxury trade with India as evidenced by finds and local imitations. Similar types were also employed for Tiberius’ silver denarius, a coin that is identified by many as the famous ”Tribute Penny” mentioned in the Bible. The enthroned deity on the reverse is widely recognized as Pax, the Roman personification of Peace. Pax was an important figure in the political message of Augustus who cast himself as the bringer of peace to Rome after a long period of civil wars. Perhaps the greatest monument to Augustus’ connection to Pax is the Ara Pacis Augustae (”Altar of Augustan Peace”), which was commissioned by the Senate in 13 BC to celebrate Augustus’ return from campaigning in Hispania. This altar and its densely decorated enclosure walls served as a focus for Roman civil religion while reinforcing the message of the abundance and prosperity that came to Rome through the peace that the emperor provided. The present aureus should also be understood as part of this same message, just in a different format. The goddess here is often thought to be a representation of Augustus’ wife, the empress Livia, in the guise of Pax. Although she could not rule, the ancient historians make it clear that she was an exceedingly powerful woman who had a great influence on both Augustus and Tiberius, her son by a previous marriage. She was only deified in her own right posthumously by her grandson, the emperor Claudius in AD 42, but in this coin type she may have been able to taste divinity in her own lifetime.