Roman Denarius of Octavian

Barry Howard sent in this Roman denarius and asked for confirmation of its identity (he had already pinned it down) and a valuation. As can be seen from the illustrations, it is badly struck, the reverse is well off centre and only vestiges of the legends show up. Fortunately, there is just enough detail for me to say it is definitely a coin of Octavian, who would later become known as Augustus. If the full legend on the obverse was visible it would read C CAESAR III VIR R P C around the bare head of Octavian. The peculiar looking thing on the reverse is meant to be a thunderbolt and the legend on this side reads Q SALVIVS IMP COS DESIG. David Sear illustrates a specimen in volume I of Roman Coins and Their Values as number 1541; the mint is listed as Italy and the type is dated to early 40 BC. This isn’t one of the rarer types for Octavian and its overall condition isn’t good. On the plus side, it’s earlier than most other denarii found in the UK.