O sestertius of Augustus, to xoia da coroa

There are only three copies in the world. And one of them is in Galicia. It is made of bronze, but weighs barely 38 grams. It is the sestertius of Augustus, and it can be seen in the temporary exhibition Galician currencies, which ends these days — on June 30 — or the Provincial Museum of Luga, an institution that promotes, in parallel with the celebration, the days of scientific dissemination on numismatics. This pioneering meeting on the archaeological heritage of Lugués is celebrated —hoxe e maña— in the Pazo de San Marcos under the title Currency in Galicia from caetra ata or eurowho will go back to Roman times to travel to the present day.

In the museum there are more than a thousand copies of coins and medals, some of the collections of greatest interest and importance not only from Galicia, all or the country. Furthermore, he is now talking about the same group of Suevi-Visigothic gold coins that were exhibited to the public for the first time in the northwest of the peninsula as part of the aforementioned exhibition.

But the real xoia of the show is the currency known as the Augustan sestertius, which dates back to the first century BC. C. e foi xa declared a ben of cultural interest (BIC). There are only two exemplary records in the world, one of which is in the Museu de Arqueologia Dom Diogo de Sousa de Braga [achada no 2005 nunha escavación arqueolóxica en Bracara Augusta] ea other segue in unknown paradoiro”, says the director of the Provincial Museum of Lugo, Aurelia Balseiro. These are some of the most unique coins that have survived and which, according to Balseiro, could have been used to finance the expenses of the Cantabrian Wars (between 29 and 19 BC), during the last phase of the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. There are no markings and it is suspected that it could have been minted [fábrica onde se acuñaba] as Augusta Emerita (Mérida), Lucus Augusti (Lugo) and Colonia Patricia (Córdoba) and even our traveling obradoiros who accompanied the army. There is no beautiful face or portrait of the emperor Octavius ​​Augustus, and in the second one there are two defeated Galicians in arms. “It represents the conquest of the Galician territory and its history of symbolic success,” he emphasizes.

The sestertius was purchased in 1999 by a private collector in the United States. The museum — which, among other things, exhibits the most special items in its collections — admits that procedures are underway to definitively integrate the currency until its deposition is complete. successfully. “Its value is priceless, both on the heritage and cultural level,” the director sublimates.

Apart from the unquestionable brilliance of the sesterces, the days will allow the Galician society to convey the importance of numismatics from the beginning [así chamada porque representa o escudo prerromano dese nome] and talk about an authentic treasure kept in a Portuguese museum. Experts from Galician universities, the National Archaeological Museum of Spain and the National Art Museum of Catalonia will not participate.

Balseiro says that interpreting the coins in the context of the cultures of the two historical periods of the northwest of the peninsula from antiquity to the present contributes to the visualization (and understanding) that these are pieces of great importance for the study of economics, religion, politics, iconography and art. So, he assures, the days are not intended only for the scientific community, but also for all those interested in culture and history, lovers, students and collectors.