AUGUSTUS (27 BC-14 AD). Denarius. Uncertain mint in Spain (Colonia Caesaraugusta?).

Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS.
Head left, wearing oak wreath.
Rev: DIVVS - IVLIVS.
Eight-rayed comet with tail upwards.

RIC² 37b.

In 44 BC, a year of institutional political upheaval, the sighting of a comet, an exceptional astronomical event, was seen as a divine sign related to Caesaricide and appeared on some rare Republican and Augustan denarii. Virgil writes in the Eclogues that Caesar's star represented an extraordinary moment of light at a time of deep sadness for the Romans. Caesar's death shocked Rome but did not stop the crisis of the Republic, Marc'Antony and Octavian contended for power, and when Octavian prevailed, the long imperial history began.

Condition: Very fine.

Weight: 3.48 g.
Diameter: 21 mm.