Image: Aureus of emperor Claudius (obverse)

Description: Claudius. AD 41-54. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.70 g, 11h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck AD 41-42. TI CLAVD • CAESAR • AVG • P • M • TR • P, laureate head right / IMPER RECEPT across top of front wall, view of the Castra Praetoria: in front is a wall with two small arched openings below and five battlements on top; above and behind it stands a soldier on guard looking left, holding spear in right hand; aquila to left; behind him is a pediment in which is a crescent, on two pillars, flanked left and right by walls, each with a battlement above and an arch below. RIC I 7; von Kaenel Type 2, 28 (V14/R19) = Lyon 5, 3a (D13/R12) = CNR XIV 76 (this coin, illustrated in von Kaenel and CNR); Calicó 359a (this coin illustrated); BMCRE 5; BN 23; Biaggi 205. EF. A handsome and historically important coin. This type commemorates the “reception of the emperor” (imperator receptus) at the Praetorian Camp and the protection the Praetorian Guard afforded Claudius in the days following the assassination of Caligula. The barracks were located to the northeast of Rome beyond the Servian Wall between the Porta Viminalis and the Porta Collina (part of the structure was later incorporated into the Aurelian Wall and can still be seen today). Issued over a number of years in both gold and silver, this type was no doubt struck to serve as part of the annual military payments the emperor had promised the Guard in return for their role in raising him to the throne.
Title: Aureus of emperor Claudius (obverse)
Credit: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=365630
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