Augustus, Lugdunum mint (Lyon), 2 BC.-12 AD.,
Denarius (17-18 mm / 3,73 g),
Obv.: [C]AESAR AVGVSTVS - [DIVI F PATER PATRIAE] , laureate head of Augustus right.
Rev.: C L CAESAR[ES / AVGVSTI F CO]S DESIG PRINC IVVENT , Lucius and Gaius Caesars, togate, standing holding honorary shields and spears; above, lituus (left to r.) and simpulum (ladle) (right to l.).
RIC I, 56, 210 (scarce) ; BMC 540 ; CBN 1659 ; Giard, Lyon 85 ; Coh. 143 .
The type commemorates Gaius and Lucius Caesars, the grandsons of Augustus by Marcus Agrippa, as heirs to the imperial throne. Gaius became Princeps Iuventutis in 5 BC and Lucius in 2 BC. Their respective deaths in 4 AD and 2 AD were later attributed to Augustus' wife, Livia, to secure the throne for her son, the future emperor Tiberius.
This is the scarcer mirror-image version of this reverse type: Gaius, with his shield in front of Lucius' shield and the ladle by his head marking him as Pontifex, is on the right rather than on the left as he should be.