89, Lot: 28. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AUGUSTUS. 27 BC-14 AD. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.78 gm). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck 2 BC-4 AD. Laureate head right / Gaius and Lucius standing, facing, holding shields and spears; between them, simpulum and lituus. RIC I 206; RSC 42. Fine.

This type commemorates Gaius and Lucius Caesars, the grandsons of Augustus by Marcus Agrippa, as heirs to the imperial throne. Gaius became Princeps Iuventutis in 5 BC and Lucius in 2 BC. Their respective deaths in 4 AD and 2 AD were later attributed to Augustus' wife, Livia, to secure the throne for her son, the future emperor Tiberius.