An augustalis or augustale, also agostaro, was a

gold coin A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22 karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Bu ...

minted in the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

beginning in 1231. It was issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (from 1220) and

King of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which ...

(from 1198), and was minted until his death in 1250. In addition, a half augustalis was issued. It was identical in design, but smaller and half the weight. The augustalis bore a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

inscription and was widely circulated in Italy. It was patterned after the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver '' denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th c ...

. (2008). Retrieved 7 October 2008. It was

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck (1877–1911), German author *Hermann Struck (1876–1944), German artist *Karin Struck (1947–2006), German author *Paul Struck (1776-1820), German composer *Peter Struc ...

at Brindisi and

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 in ...

with accompanying

billon Billon may refer to: * Billon (alloy), a metal alloy containing mostly copper or bronze with small quantity of silver People * Claudius Billon (1896–1944), French air force officer *Jean-Louis Billon (born 1964), Ivorian politician *Jonathan Le ...

deniers. The style of the augustalis has been described as splendid and proto-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

; the quality of its execution and its

fineness The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hard ...

was high. The augustalis had a nominal weight of 5.31 grams and was 20 carats (854/1000) fine. The legal value was a quarter of a Sicilian gold

ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States customa ...

. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

contains a

classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...

(not medieval) profile bust of the emperor wearing a laureate wreath with the legend CESAR AVG IMP ROM (Caesar Augustus, Emperor of the Romans); the

reverse Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...

shows an eagle, the imperial symbol, with the name FRIDE RICVS (Frederick). rratum: CESAR AVG misquoted as CESAVG./ref> rrata: Gold content of 4.33g should read 4.53g; obverse referred to as reverse, and vice versa; CESAR misquoted as CAESAR./ref> 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 styled

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

References

External links

An augustalis at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

A half augustalis at the American Numismatic Society
* {{cite journal , last=Kowalski , first=H. , date=1976 , title=Die Augustalen Kaiser Friedrichs II , url=https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=snr-003:1976:55::242 , language=German , journal=

Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau The ''Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau'' (translation: ''Swiss Numismatic Review'') is one of the two peer reviewed multilingual journals of the Swiss Numismatic Society. Containing articles of the highest scientific level in the field of ...

, volume=55 , pages=77{{ndash150 , doi=10.5169/seals-174259 , doi-access=free - comprehensive study Gold coins Medieval currencies Medieval Latin inscriptions 13th century in the Kingdom of Sicily Currencies of Italy Messina Brindisi Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor