Dea Moneta
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Banner Artemide LVII
Lot # 456
Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) . AR Denarius, Italian (Rome?) mint. Obv. Victory, draped, standing right on prow, holding palm frond over left shoulder in left hand and wreath in extended right hand. Rev. Octavian driving triumphal quadriga right, the car ornamented with figures on its front and side panels, holding reins in left hand and branch in right; IMP CAESAR in exergue. RIC I (2nd ed.) 264; C. 115. AR. 3.80 g. 20.00 mm. Superb, struck on a broad flan and prettily toned. Obverse fields very slightly pitted, otherwise. EF. This coin commemorates Octavian’s fresh victory at Actium. The obverse, showing Victory standing on a prow, is reminiscent of the type featured on the coins of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and reflects the manner of Octavian’s victory. The reverse displays Octavian as the victor, involved in the triumphal procession in Rome, which wended its way from the Forum to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. This victory, however, was portrayed as being over the foreign queen Cleopatra, rather than Antony and those Romans who supported him. (Triton XI, 2008, 649 note).