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

Augustus, Lugdunum mint (Lyon), 15-10 BC., countermarked by Publius Quinctilius Varus about 7-9 AD in his province (probably at the Novaesium or Asciburgium military camp),
Æ As (24-26 mm / 8,55 g),
Obv.: CAESAR - PO[NT MA]X , laureate head of Augustus right; 8-12 ancient dagger cuts on portrait.
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; 8-12 ancient dagger cuts; above altar, countermark VAR (in ligature, small v).
RIC I 230 var. ; BMC 550 var. ; CBN 1485 var. ; Coh. 209 var. ; for countermark: Martini Pangerl Collection no 52.
These dagger cuts are typical for coins of this series found near camps or military areas like ancient battle fields.

Publius Quinctilius Varus was one of the most celebrated of Augustus' generals. He had been consul in 13 BC (along with the future emperor Tiberius), governor of Syria, where he had sent two legions into Judaea to quell local unrest after the territory was converted to a Roman province. He had also been proconsul in Africa between 8 and 5 BC and subsequently governor of Germania.
By 9 AD, Augustus had decided to straighten (and thereby shorten) Rome's borders by conquering the vast region of Germania beyond the Rhine. He assigned Varus to develop the region without war, but the mixed Gauls and Germans living there were not prepared to accept Romanization. The Cherusci under their king Arminius, along with other allies, ambushed Varus in the Teutoburg Forest of northwest Germany, and there annihilated the XVII, XVIII and XIX Roman legions in a pitched battle that lasted for three days.
Varus, sensing doom, committed suicide, and when Augustus heard of the disaster, he tore his clothes and screamed, "Varus, give me back my legions!" No further attempts were made to subdue the Germans beyond the Rhine until the reign of Domitian, and Varus was blamed for the collapse of imperial policy in Germany.

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.

Zum Thema Dolchstiche auf Münzen des Augustus: Eberhard Sauer, Coins, Cult and Cultural Identity: Augustan Coins, Hot Springs and the Early Roman Baths at Bourbonne-les-Bains. Leicester Archaeology Monographs 10. Leicester: University of Leicester, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, 2005. Pp. 324; ills. 51, pls. 11. ISBN 0-9538914-4-5.
Rezension: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-12-11.html#n1