What to notice
Two men, two roles
Augustus and Agrippa appear back to back. Agrippa’s rostral crown, with its naval imagery, recalls his military contribution to Augustus’s success.
Egypt in a single animal
The crocodile chained to a palm evokes conquered Egypt. The reverse turns a distant campaign into a memorable image for everyday circulation.
A local identity
COL NEM abbreviates the colony’s name, Nemausus. This is the ancient name of modern Nîmes, linking the imperial message to a particular community.
The two-minute story
A crocodile for an empire
The story begins before the coin was struck. Octavian’s victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BC was followed by the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. The civil wars were drawing to a close, and the man later known as Augustus emerged as the dominant figure in the Roman world.
Years later, the crocodile coinage of Nemausus continued to give that victory a visible form. Its paired heads associate Augustus with Agrippa; its reverse makes Egypt recognizable through the crocodile and presents it in chains. This is history being remembered through a deliberately chosen image.
The time between the victory and the coin is part of its meaning. Money could keep a founding success present long after the fighting had ended. In a city in Gaul, the new imperial order could be carried in a pocket, exchanged in a market, and seen again and again.
The personal thread
Why this coin belongs here
Nîmes gives this coin a personal geography. Alongside memories of the family’s time in Provence, it ties Roman monuments and familiar streets to the much larger story of Actium, Egypt, and the creation of Augustus’s empire.
A question to share
Why would a coin made in France show an animal associated with Egypt?
Collector record
The attribution, physical details, and documented history of this specimen.
- Authority
- Augustus, with Agrippa
- Recorded issue date
- c. 16/15–10 BC
- Measurements
- 26.5 mm · 11.76 g · die axis 6h
- Obverse
- IMP // DIVI F; Agrippa facing left in a rostral crown, Augustus bareheaded facing right
- Reverse
- COL – NEM; crocodile chained to a palm topped by a wreath; two palm fronds below
- Catalogue references
- RIC 155 · RPC I 523 · LT 2778 · RCV 1729
- Dealer inventory
- CGB brm_1102110 · CONNOR / VCoins product 2392202
- Condition notes
- Brown-green patina; reverse slightly off centre, with areas of weak detail (dealer description)
- Collection status
- Owned
Measurements and attribution follow the matching CGB catalogue entry and the supplied VCoins screenshots. The museum and RPC examples explain the type; they are not this specimen’s provenance.