99
3107
Augustus, with Divus Julius Caesar. Silver Denarius
(3.7 g), 27 BC-AD 14.
Rome, 17 BC. P. Licinius Stolo,
moneyer. AVGVSTVS TR POT, emperor, laureate, wear-
ing short tunic and cloak, on horseback right, holding
patera.
Reverse:
P STOLO III VIR, flamen’s cap (
apex
flaminis
) between two studded sacred shields (
ancilia
).
RIC 344; BMC 76; RSC 439.
Very Rare
.
Well struck and well centered on a slight-
ly rough flan. Lightly toned. Extremely Fine.
The ancilia was a sacred bronze shield believed to
have fallen from heaven during the reign of Numa
Pompilius, 715-673 BC, the legendary second king of
Rome. His consort, the nymph Egeria, prophesied that
wherever the shield was preserved the people would
be the dominant people of the world. In order to dis-
guise the identity of the sacred shield, eleven copies
were made, and all were carried by the twelve Salian
“leaping priests of Mars” during public festivities, espe-
cially the Secular Games. The shields were destroyed
by fire when the Regia burned in 36 BC, and were re-
constructed probably in 17 BC as part of the New Age
celebrations that Augustus and Agrippa inaugurated.
Estimated Value......................................... $8,000 - 9,000
Ex Lanz 154 (11 June 2012), 290.
