56, Lot: 113. Estimate $300. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

OCTAVIAN. 29-27 BC. AR Denarius (3.95 gm). Rome mint. Victory standing right on prow, holding wreath and palm / IMP. CAESAR in exergue, Octavian standing right, holding branch, in ornamented quadriga right. RIC I 264; BMCRE 617; RSC 115. Nice VF, banker's mark in obverse field. ($300)

Octavian's IMP CAESAR coinage was a celebration of the final triumph of the Caesarian cause in the civil wars. It addressed the many themes of the ‘new order’ and was most appropriate to the period preceding the young Caesar's magnificent triple triumph in mid-August 29 BC. Its large volume was made possible by the wealth of the Ptolemaic treasury, now safely in Roman hands, and was necessary for the recompense of soldiers newly retired from the disbanded legions and the financing of the lavish festivities in the capital. It seems probable that this was the first type to be issued in the IMP CAESAR series as it supersedes an otherwise identical denarius with the earlier CAESAR DIVI F legend (RIC 263). It seems likely that the reverse type commemorates Octavian's victorious entry into Alexandria on August 1, while the obverse recalls his great victory at Actium.