This coin was minted between 29 and 27 BCE in Italy. Octavian represented himself as imperator in his coin legends after the period of time when he was identified as Caesar divi filius (“Caesar son of a god”). The title imperator refers to his role as a military general, while the naval symbols – the rudder, anchor, and prow – probably refer to his recent military achievements, including the victory over Sextus Pompeius in 36 BCE and his victory over Marc Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BCE. The wealth that Octavian accumulated in Egypt was vast, and in the years after Actium he supplied a great deal of money (if we can believe our sources, 2,400 million sesterces) to the state treasury. He also had an immense number of coins issued in order to pay his own soldiers and those of Antony. The portrait of Octavian on the obverse is fascinating in its simplicity: Octavian lacks a legend by which to identify him, and he is portrayed with a bare head, without symbolically meaningful headgear or clothing. This is a common feature of the coinage of Octavian before his adoption of the honorary title Augustus in 27 BCE. Reina Callier 2011.