54, Lot: 98. Estimate $300. Sold for $325. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JULIUS CAESAR. 45 BC. Æ Dupondius (15.40 gm). CAESAR DIC TER, draped bust of Victory right / C • CLOVI PRAEF, Minerva standing left holding trophy over right shoulder and shield, decorated with Medusa, on left arm; snake at her feet left. Crawford 476/1a; CRI 62; Sydenham 1025. VF, brown patina, double-struck, overstruck on uncertain type. ($300)

Caesar's victory over the Pompeians at Munda on 17 March 45 BC resulted in a total victory for the dictator, thus bringing to an end the Pompeian opposition to his supremacy in the Roman world. The remarkable Caesarian aes issue represented by this exceptionally well-preserved specimen would appear to be closely associated with the gold aurei and quinarii of L. Plancus struck in Rome in the autumn of 45 BC for the purpose of distribution at Caesar's Spanish triumph. The issue of Roman aes at this time was a great novelty as regular production had ceased four decades before and was not destined to be resumed until the Augustan reform of circa 19-18 BC. The idea probably originated with the Pompeian coinage of bronze asses issued in Spain prior to the battle of Munda. Caesar's issue would have served the purpose of low value donation pieces for distribution to the populace during the triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. The bust of Victory and the warlike figure of Minerva convey a clear message that this was a special coinage issued for the celebration of a military success. Not a great deal is known of C. Clovius (or Cluvius), the prefect entrusted with the production of this most unusual coinage. We are not even sure of the precise nature of his prefectship, though it is tempting to assume that he was one of the six praefecti Urbi appointed by Caesar before he set out for Spain. In 44 BC he was governor of Cisalpine Gaul and there appear to be later references to him in the age of Augustus.