- Augustalis
An augustalis or augustale was a
gold coin minted in theKingdom of Sicily beginning around 1231. It was the first gold issue ofFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily (1197–1250), and was minted until his death. It bore aLatin inscription and was widely circulated inItaly . It was patterned after the Romanaureus and its halves. It was minted atBrindisi andMessina with accompanyingbillon denier s. The style of the coinage has been described as splendid and proto-Renaissance ; the quality of its execution and its fineness is high. The coin weighed about 5.24 grams, which is ¼ of a Sicilian gold ounce.The obverse contains an classical (not medieval) bust of the emperor wearing a laureate wreath with the legend CESAR AVG IMP ROM (Caesar Augustus, Emperor of the Romans); the reverse shows an eagle, the imperial symbol, with the name FRIDE RICVS (Frederick). The name "augustalis" means literally "of the august one", referring to the coin's provenance from the emperor himself, but also linking it with the
Roman Emperor , who was commonly styledAugustus .References
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/42862/augustale "Augustale."] (2008). In "Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved 7 October 2008.
External links
* [http://www.khm.at/system2E.html?/staticE/page631.html An augustalis at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna]
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