AUGUSTUS SILVER DENARIUS – ACTIAN APOLLO ISSUE OF 15-13 BC – VF NGC GRADED ROMAN IMPERIAL COIN OF THE 12 CAESARS (Inv. 18396)

$850.00

ROMAN EMPIRE. AUGUSTUS, 27 BC-AD 14.
Silver denarius, 3.49 g, 19 mm. Issue of Lugdunum, ca. 15-13 BC.
Obv. AVGVSTVS DIVI F, head of Augustus right. Rev. IMP X, Apollo Citharoedus in flowing robes, standing left, carrying lyre and plectrum, ACT in exergue.
RIC I rev, 171a.
NGC graded VF, Strike 4/5, Surface 2/5, “brushed”. The coin type references the role of Apollo at the Battle of Actium, where the god was believed to have manifested himself, securing victory for Octavian’s forces against the joint fleets of Antony and Cleopatra. Actium was the decisive encounter that secured complete power for Octavian and Apollo’s role was often referenced in Augustan propaganda. Virgil mentions the prominent role of Apollo in book 8 of the Aeneid: “Overlooking it all, Actian Apollo / Began to pull his bow. Wild at this sight / All Egypt, Indians, Arabians, all / Sabaeans put about in flight, and she, / The queen (Cleopatra), appeared crying for winds to shift…But Caesar then in triple triumph rode / Within the walls of Rome, making immortal / Offerings to the gods of Italy…” Aeneid, 8.704 ff (R. Fitzgerald translation, 1981).

Published: Vilmar Fixed Price List IV, no. 107.