An - 'as' coin of Nîmes

An enigmatic coin whose reverse shows a crocodile chained to a palm tree led to a longstanding belief of the installation in the centre of the Volcae Arecomici Gallic confederation of a colony of veterans who had returned from the Egyptian campaign. The obverse shows, back to back, the busts of Augustus and Agrippa who won the Battle of Actium in BC 31 against Antony and Cleopatra. Minted for the entire Roman world, it indicated in fact the reality of the status of colony awarded to the people of Nîmes and their gratitude for the peace recently gained. It was a propaganda coin marking the future prosperity promised for the town.