Roman Republic Mark Antony and Lucius Antonius, 41 BC. Aureus 41 BC, M. Cocceius Nerva as moneyer, mint moving with Mark Antony in the East. M · ANT · IM(P) AVG VIR · R · P C · M NERVA PROQ · P Bare head of Mark Antony right / L · ANTONIVS - COS Bare head of Lucius Antonius right. 8,05g. Calicó 120a; Cohen 2 var.; Crawford 517/4b. Bruise on hedge, otherwise extremely fine. Provenance: Privately purchased from E. Beckenbauer in 1960/1961 by Alois Faust. Privately purchased from Alois Faust in 1971. Kölner Münzkabinett 104 (12 February 2016), 220a. Nomos 22 (22 June 2021), 277. This exceptional aureus belongs to one of the most turbulent moments in the final years of the Republic, when the fragile alliance between Octavian and Mark Antony began to fracture. In 41 BC, Antony’s youngest brother, Lucius Antonius, attained the consulship, and Antony, then governing the eastern provinces, had every reason to promote his brother’s political stature. The coinage struck under his authority in the East reflects this intention, pairing Antony’s portrait with that of Lucius to broadcast the family’s prominence across the Mediterranean. While Mark Antony remained in the East, Lucius stayed in Italy, where he became deeply involved in the political agitation stirred up by Fulvia, Mark Antony’s wife. Together they opposed Octavian’s vast program of veteran settlements, which required confiscating land from Italian communities and provoked widespread unrest. Lucius, newly installed as consul, adopted an openly confrontational posture, and Fulvia amplified the discord with relentless political maneuvering. Their actions ignited the conflict later known as the Perusine War. Octavian reacted swiftly. He summoned Agrippa from Spain and deployed battlehardened legions to isolate Lucius and Fulvia in Perugia. When the city fell in early 40 BC, Mark Antony distanced himself from the disaster, leaving his brother and wife to face Octavian’s judgment. Lucius was spared and sent to govern Spain, effectively removed from the political stage, where he died soon afterward. Fulvia and her children, however, were exiled to Sicyon, an abolute demonstration of Octavian’s resolve. This aureus, struck amid these escalating tensions, stands as a vivid witness to the first open rifts between Octavian and Mark Antony, capturing in gold the moment when family loyalty, political ambition, and the future of Rome collided.