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 (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buf ...

minted in the Kingdom of Sicily beginning in 1231. It was issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (from 1220) and King of Sicily (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 of the ...

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 lette ...

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 cen ...

. (2008). Retrieved 7 October 2008. It was struck at Brindisi and Messina with accompanying billon 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 The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

; 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 hardne ...

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 (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 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 , 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