15-10 BC., Augustus, Lugdunum mint, Æ As, RIC 230 var.

Augustus, Lugdunum mint (Lyon), 15-10 BC., maybe countermarked by C. Numonius Vala about 7-9 AD.,
Æ As (24-27 mm / 10,20 g),
Obv.: CAESAR - [PONT MAX] , laureate head of Augustus rigfht, incuse countermark on neck: C. {VAL} (VAL as monogram)
Rev.: [R]OM ET AVG , front elevation of the Roma-Augustus-Altar of Lugdunum, decorated with the corona civica between laurels, flanked by nude male figures; to left and right, Victories on columns, facing one another.
RIC I 230 var. ; BMC 550 var. ; CBN 1485 var. ; Coh. 209 var. ; for countermark: Martini Pangerl Collection no. 45 .

C. Numonius Vala, legatus of Varus, survived the battle of 9 AD, escaping with the cavalry to the Rhine. The countermark "C. VAL" has been proposed to stand for Varus' cavalry commander.
Velleius Paterculus (book II, paragraph CXIX) indicates that "Numonius Vala, legatus of Varus, who, in the rest of his life, had been an inoffensive and an honorable man, also set a fearful example in that he left the infantry unprotected by the cavalry and in flight tried to reach the Rhine with his squadrons of horse. But fortune avenged his act, for he did not survive those whom he had abandoned, but died in the act of deserting him" .
This attribution of "C VAL" to Numonius Vala is however not based on solid evidence. On coins with both "VAR" and "CVAL" countermarks "CVAL" has been applied before "VAR"

The reverse of this coin features the celebrated Altar of Lugdunum which had been dedicated by Augustus on August 1st, 10 BC.

Am 1. August jeden Jahres feierten die 60 civitates der drei Gallien an diesem Altar ein Fest, mit dem sie ihre Reichstreue bestätigten. Der Altar war im Jahre 12 v. Chr. von Drusus errichtet worden.