For those of you who are ardent fans of the 1970’s British television series series “I Claudius” or the latest HBO series “Rome”, you will be well acquainted with Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the great-nephew of Gaius Julius Caeser who through inheritance, skill and intelligence succeeded Caesar and was himself elected as Augustus, first Emperor of Rome in 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.
The Two Aurei coin with a weight of 7.85 grams which is pictured, was struck in the months after Octavian’s election as Consul, with the obverse inscription “C(aius) CAESAR CO(n)S(ul) PONT(ifex) AVG(ustus)” together with a youthful portrait of Octavian. The reverse of this exceptional historic gold piece reads “C(aius) CAESAR DICT(ator) PERP(etuus) PONT(ifex) MAX(imus)” along with a portrait of his adoptive father, the late Julius Caesar wearing a wreath.
The coin, which was the center of attraction in the recent auction number 203 of Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung went under the gavel on the 5th March and surprisingly realized more than €172,000 from a €25,000 reserve / estimate. As lot number 312, it was said that the bids just kept coming and coming until the final price of €172,500 was realized. The coin was part of an overall collection of high quality ancient coins containing 668 lots.
For more information on this and other upcoming auctions by Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, please visit their website at: https://www.gmcoinart.de/Termine.AxCMS
Leave a Reply