Bronze As of Augustus RIC 471

Augustus
Bronze AS (27mm 10.65g) struck AD 11-14

Obverse:IMP CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS IMP XX Bare head left

Rev: PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POT XXIIII SC Legend around SC

RIC-471 Sear 1689
Uncleaned Coin Find

This bronze As represents the final chapter in the life of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, minted between AD 11 and AD 14. It captures a fragile, somber period when an elderly Augustus was preparing a heavily scarred Rome for its first-ever imperial transition of power.

1. The Shadow of Teutoburg Forest (AD 9)

To understand the mood in Rome when this coin was struck, you have to look back just two years prior to AD 9. Rome had just suffered its most catastrophic military disaster in generations: the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Three entire Roman legions were massacred in Germany, shattering Augustus's illusion of Roman invincibility.

The aging emperor was devastated, famously pacing his palace and crying out, "Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!"

This coin was minted during the immediate recovery period. The treasury was strained, and Augustus was leaning heavily on his stepson, Tiberius, to stabilize the northern frontiers. The stability of the empire was teetering, and the coinage needed to radiate absolute, unchanging authority.

2. The Obverse: The Laurel Wreath and the Name

On the front of the coin, we see a bare-headed portrait of Augustus looking right. The inscription reads:

CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE (Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine, Father of his Country).

• PATER PATRIAE: This title ("Father of the Country") was his proudest honor, granted to him in 2 BC. By including it here, at the end of his life, Augustus was reminding the public that he had spent over 40 years caring for Rome like a strict but protective father.
• The Crown: On many silver and gold coins of this final era, he is depicted wearing the Civic Wreath (an oak wreath awarded for saving the lives of citizens). This served as a visual reminder that despite the disasters in Germany, he had ended decades of bloody Roman civil wars and brought the Pax Romana (Roman Peace).

3. The Reverse: The Monopolized Religious Power

The reverse features a massive S • C (Senatus Consulto), indicating it was struck by decree of the Senate. Surrounding it is the inscription:

PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVNIC POTEST XXXIV (or similar high regnal numbers).

• PONTIF MAXIM: This stands for Pontifex Maximus—the High Priest of Rome. Augustus took this title in 12 BC after the previous holder (his old rival Lepidus) died. By consolidating the supreme religious office into the role of the Emperor, Augustus ensured that politics and religion were permanently bound together.
• The Countdown to Succession: The title Tribunicia Potestas (Tribunician Power) followed by a high number (like 34, 35, or 36) was the ultimate flex of longevity. The Tribune's power gave him the right to veto any law and granted his body absolute physical sacrosanctity (it was a capital crime to harm him). Because this power was renewed annually, the high number reminded Romans exactly how long he had successfully steered the ship of state.

4. The End of an Era

When Augustus died in August of AD 14 at the age of 75, this exact style of coin was still actively tumbling out of the coin mints in Rome.

Because Augustus had no surviving biological sons, his succession plans had repeatedly failed due to the premature deaths of his heirs (Agrippa, Gaius, and Lucius). This coin was circulating at the exact moment he was reluctantly forcing Rome to accept Tiberius as the next ruler.

When people handled this copper As to buy bread or wine in the markets of Rome, they were holding a piece of political propaganda designed to assure them that even though the great founder of the Empire was dying, the office, the religion, and the peace he built would outlive him.