The Ides of March

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 298. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $37500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Brutus. Late summer-autumn 42 BC. AR Denarius (3.47 g, 12h). Mint moving with Brutus in northern Greece. L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Bare head of Brutus right; BRVT above, [IMP] before, L • PLAE[T • CEST] around behind / Pileus between two daggers pointing downward; EID • MAR below. Crawford 508/3; Cahn 7a (same obv. die); CRI 216; Sydenham 1301; Kestner -; BMCRR East 68-70; RSC 15. Good Fine, toned, a few punchmarks on obverse. Very rare and of the highest historical significance.

One of the most important coins associated with an event in ancient history, this denarius pointedly commemorates the assassination of Julius Caesar by depicting the perpetrator of the act (Brutus), by naming the date of the act (EID[ibus] MAR[tiis], by displaying the instruments of the act (daggers) between the reason for the act (the pileus [freedman’s cap] as a symbol of liberty). Though many senators plotted against Caesar and are collectively represented by the two daggers, the portrait of Brutus alone emphasizes his primary role in the conspiracy.

The only securely identified portraits of Brutus occur on coins inscribed with his name; all others, whether on coins or other artifacts, are identified based on the three issues inscribed BRVTVS IMP (on aurei) or BRVT IMP (on denarii). A careful study of Brutus’ portraits by S. Nodelman segregates these inscribed portraits into three main categories: a ‘baroque’ style portrait on the aurei of Casca, a ‘neoclassical’ style on the aurei of Costa, and a ‘realistic’ style on the ‘EID MAR’ denarii, which Nodelman describes as “the soberest and most precise” of all.