AUGUSTUS GOLD AUREUS – GAIUS AND LUCIUS ISSUE OF LUGDUNUM – CHOICE VF NGC GRADED ROMAN IMPERIAL COIN OF THE 12 CAESARS (Inv. 19962)

$9,750.00

19962. ROMAN EMPIRE. AUGUSTUS, 27 BC–14 AD.
Gold Aureus, 7.83 g, 19 mm. Issue of Lugdunum (Lyon), 2 BC–AD 4.
Obv. CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE, laureate head of Augustus right. Rev. AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT, Gaius and Lucius Caesars, standing facing, holding grounded shields and spears, lituus and simpulum in upper field, C L CAESARES in exergue.
RIC I rev 209; Calicó 177a.
NGC graded CHOICE VF, Strike 4/5, Surface 3/5, with an imposing and elegant portrait of Augustus.

In 23 and 18 BC, Augustus greatly increased the constitutional powers given to his loyal lieutenant and son–in–law, M. Vipsanius Agrippa, with the intention of ultimately passing on the role of emperor to him. Unfortunately, he died prematurely in 12 BC, leaving Augustus to look for new heirs. Despite their youth, Augustus decided to name his grandsons Gaius and Lucius Caesar as his official heirs in 2 BC. This coin celebrates their assumption of the toga virilis—the garment of an adult roman citizen—and the title of principes iuventutis (“princes of the youth”) in 2 BC in order to advertise the security of the imperial succession. Unfortunately, like their father Agrippa, they were also destined to die before they could succeed the ailing but long–lived Augustus. Lucius fell ill and died while travelling to Hispania in AD 2. Some 18 months later, Gaius also succumbed to illness while making his way through Lycia.