A very rare Roman gold coin bearing the image of Brutus, the most famous assassin of Julius Caesar, will be auctioned on Monday December 9 in Geneva, with a asking price of more than 800,000 euros. “A numismatist's eyes shine when he has a coin like that in his hands”, because this aureus, the Roman gold coin, is “a piece of history” linked to the last chapters of the Roman Republic, explains to AFP Frank Baldacci, director of Numismatica Genevensis, responsible for the sale.
This coin was struck in 43-42 BC by “Brutus and his friends who assassinated Julius Caesar” in March 44 BC, he explains. It weighs 8 grams and has a size similar to that of a euro.
Its starting price is 750,000 Swiss francs (more than 805,000 euros), but it will probably exceed a million and “could go quite high”, because it is a bit “the Da Vinci of Roman currency”, according to Frank Baldacci.
This particular aureus features on the front the profile of Brutus' head surrounded by laurel leaves and on the reverse celebrates his recent military victories with warrior symbols. It's one of 17 known specimens, according to the auction house. This coin, “struck not in Rome, but in a workshop that moved with Brutus and his armies as he tried to gain power after assassinating Julius Caesar,” also had “propaganda value,” says Frank. Baldacci.
The laurel wreath is really the sign of “someone who wants to promote himself as emperor”, who wants to be “caliph in place of the caliph”, he notes, underlining the inscription “IMP” – for Imperator, chief of the armies, a title which would become hereditary under the Empire.
-The coin was struck shortly before the very famous battle of Philippi, which Brutus lost against Mark Antony and Octavian and at the end of which he “killed himself”, explains Frank Baldacci. The aureus has traveled through the centuries, passing from hand to hand, out of sight. “But we know that during the Renaissance, there were many princes, lords who had collections of Roman coins,” emphasizes Frank Baldacci.
The piece only resurfaced in the 1950s when it was published in a private collector's catalog. It subsequently reappeared at auction in 2006 in Zurich, where it was sold to another private collector for 360,000 Swiss francs. “It’s a currency that returns to the market after a generation. These are extremely rare pieces and the possibility of acquiring them is just as rare,” notes Frank Baldacci.
The coin is enclosed in an airtight box to prevent it from being altered and to “guarantee its authenticity”, he says, explaining that certification by specialized companies is done in particular by comparing with other ancient currencies as well as than by examining the gold used.
Curious to find out who's in the news The essentials? Join us on the number 1 business network in Luxembourg!
