AUGUSTUS (27 BC-14 AD). Denarius. Rome. L. Vinicius, moneyer.

Obv: AVGVSTVS TR POT VII.
Bare head right.
Rev: L VINICIVS L F III VIR.
Cippus inscribed S P Q R / IMP CAE / QVOD V / M S EX / EA P Q IS / AD A DE.

RIC² 360 (R3).

Rare

Ex Savoca Numismatik 13 (2017), lot 436. This denarius, struck during Augustus' seventh tribunicia potestas, commemorates the renovation of the Via Flaminia (27 BC), a road that ran from the Porta Fontinalis gate in the Servian Wall to Aquileia. For the occasion, a series of silver and gold coins were issued to celebrate the event, highlighting the fact that Augustus had paid for the renovation out of his own pocket. On the reverse, the cippus bears the inscription “S(enatus) P(opulusque) R(omanum), Imp(eratori) Caes(ari), quod v(iae) m(unitae) s(unt) ex ea p(ecunia) q(uam) is ad a(erarium) d(etulit)” (= by decision of the Senate and the Roman people, to the Emperor and Caesar, for having reinforced the roads with funds he paid to the public treasury) and refers to Augustus' donation to the treasury of the sum of money necessary for the renovation of the Via Flaminia, as narrated by Cassius Dio and the emperor himself in the ‘Res Gestae’. The memorial stone probably really existed and was erected in Rome to celebrate the event. The magistrate Vinicius was a family friend, known for having had an affair with Augustus's adulterous daughter, Julia.

Condition: Very fine.

Weight: 3.69 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.