“The denarius of Brutus commemorating the assassination of Caesar is one
of the very few coins to be described in the ancient
literature. Cassius Dio relates that “Brutus stamped upon the coins
which were being minted his own likeness and a cap and two daggers, indicating by this and by the inscription that he and Cassius had
liberated the fatherland” (Roman
History, XLVII.25.3). Minted in 42 BC, while Brutus
and his fellow conspirators were on the march in northern Greece, the
coin type was recalled by the victorious Mark Antony and Octavian
and melted down. Approximately seventy-five examples are known to
exist, from 7 obverse and 25 reverse dies (8 obverse and 26 reverse dies
also have been cited). In 2008, the finest example sold at auction for
350,000 Swiss francs (approximately $335,000); in 2011, another
coin struck slightly off center realized $546,250, a record for a
silver Roman coin. The coin pictured above, which shows some porosity,
sold for $97,500.
“
deepintheshadyglen