Ancients: Augustus (27 BC-AD 14). AV aureus (19mm, 7.89 gm, 11h). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 3/5, edge cut....

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Elusive Augustus Sphinx Aureus

Augustus (27 BC-AD 14). AV aureus (19mm, 7.89 gm, 11h). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 3/5, edge cut. Pergamum(?), 19-18 BC. AVGVSTVS, bare head of Augustus right / Sphinx seated right. Calicó 156a (Nicomedia or Nicaea). RIC 512 (Pergamum) corr. (legend, head right). Wonderfully bright example of this rare type.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 125 (23 June 2021), lot 598; Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 9 (18 September 2013), lot 1139; Stack's Bowers, Sale 174 (11 January 2013), lot 5423; SKA, Auction 7 (1987), lot 772.

The sphinx was initially used by Augustus as his personal signet, which called to his divine linage to Apollo - the ring which supposedly once belonged to his mother, who became pregnant with Augustus after being blessed by Apollo (as according to Suetonius). However, as Augustus began to establish his own legacy, the sphinx was replaced with the head of Alexander the Great: his idol and his model for empiric success.

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