CALIGULA SILVER DENARIUS – FIRST ISSUE OF LUGDUNUM WITH PORTRAIT OF DIVUS AUGUSTUS – CHOICE FINE NGC GRADED ROMAN IMPERIAL COIN OF THE TWELVE CAESARS (Inv. 20194)

$6,500.00

20194. ROMAN EMPIRE. GAIUS (CALIGULA), AD 37-41.
Silver Denarius, 3.72 g, 19 mm. Issue of Lugdunum (Lyon), AD 37.
Obv. C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT COS, laureate head of Caligula right.
Rev. Radiate head of Augustus right, stars on either side.
RIC I rev, 2.
NGC graded CHOICE FINE, Strike 5/5, Surface 4/5.
When he came to the throne Caligula showed great promise. It is at this time that this coin was struck (at modern day Lyon, in France), the reverse showing a portrait of the deified Augustus, the founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Soon after Caligula seems to have gone insane. Suetonius recounts many stories of his depravity, including sleeping with his sisters and making his horse a senator. This coin has a strong portrait of the young emperor, who became known to history as one of its most deranged tyrants.