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During the principate of Augustus Caesar, a series of 'asses' (RIC I2 Augustus 390–396) were minted bearing the image of Augustus on the obverse and Numa Pompilius on the reverse. Discussion of this coin in the context of Augustan ideology has been limited (Evans, 1985; Grant, 1953). Although one aspect of the coin’s message relates to the promotion of the moneyer’s family, a closer analysis of its iconographical and historical context provides important evidence for the early public image of Augustus, particularly in regard to religion. To that end, this article intends to establish the traditional use of kings in Republican coins and the development of religious iconography in early Augustan coinage. Examination of these asses can be divided into two groups of coins which were minted at different times, first in 22 BCE (RIC I2 Augustus 390–393) and then again in 12 BCE (RIC I2 Augustus 394–396).

Coinage and recoinage Among the many provisions of the Edict of Pitres laid down in June 864 was one in which Charles the Bald stipulated ‘ut ab ipsa missa sancti Martini per omne regnum nostrum non nisi istius nostrae novae monetae meri et bene pensantes denarii accipiantur’. This has been connected by numismatists with a major reform of the currency which swept away the earlier coinages of diverse design and inconsistent metallic quality in favour of the Gratia Dei rex issue. Just as Charles commanded, west Frankish hoards from 864 onwards quickly came to be dominated by the new coinage. His measure, so it seemed, had been a success. What Charles implemented in 864 is the classic example of what numismatists have called a renovatio monetae : a reform of the coinage in which the old currency was demonetized in favour of a new one. The roots of the policy go back to ancient times, and it can be traced in various proclamations of late Roman and Byzantine emperors. In the context of a precious-metal coinage this meant melting down the old coins and having them restruck throughout the kingdom. Charles the Bald’s 864 recoinage was not the only one to work along these lines, but it is among the best-recorded. It combines a clear monetary impact with relatively detailed documentation, and its provisions have been tentatively assumed to apply to many other times and places in the early Middle Ages.

Early medieval coinage was fundamentally different from most modern currencies in that its value and acceptability were grounded in its precious-metal content. For this reason the amount of silver or gold in the coinage was usually controlled by the minting authorities and carefully scrutinized by coin-users. There were two factors which determined the quantity of precious metal in a coin: its weight and the purity of the precious metal from which it was struck. These were intimately associated with one another in the early Middle Ages, and together constituted a vital part of the general estimation of the coinage. For Isidore of Seville, weight and fineness – pondus et metallum – were just as important as design ( figura ) in giving a coin its acceptable status. Standardization and reliability were the underlying concerns and were an important end in themselves for early medieval rulers. Respect for these essential features of the currency was repeatedly demonstrated in early medieval legislation against defective coin. Charlemagne laid down large fines in 794 for anyone who rejected denarii that carried the king’s name and ‘are of sound silver and full weight’ ( mero sunt argento, pleniter pensantes ); an injunction that was repeated several times in later Carolingian capitularies. Late Anglo-Saxon law-codes made an explicit link between good coinage and the spiritual wellbeing of society as a whole. The ‘maintenance of the coinage’ ( feos bot ), in the words of the Wulfstanian law-codes V and VI AEthelred and II Cnut, was an integral feature of the ‘maintenance of peace’ ( friðes bot ), on a par with the performance of military service and the avoidance of sins such as murder, fraud, adultery and sacrilege. As far as one can tell from these documents, reliable coinage was seen as a vital ingredient of a healthy society, and a reliable coinage was one which looked and weighed the part and contained as much silver as it was supposed to. To understand early medieval coinage in its proper setting, therefore, it is necessary to examine these features of weight and fineness as they metamorphosed over time. Quality and consistency were the primary aims, and by and large both were achieved fairly successfully; hence the generally extensive use of coinage in southern England in this period, even outside its kingdom of origin. But standards could change or slip, reflecting fluctuations in the supply of silver or exploitation of the currency. Who changed standards and why is not always easy to determine, and neither is it always possible to know the economic causes and consequences of such fluctuations, at least on a short-term basis. Yet the matter of how much silver contemporary coinage contained was evidently important to early medieval observers and represented an integral part of its relationship with contemporary society and power.