Man, I would still love to have one of these...

[the_Thing ®]

I posted one awhile back and I forget how much it sold for. Over $40,000 I think. Here is another one coming up for auction. Its much nicer than the one that sold for $40,000. I just TTT that thread with the previous coin. See the thread about TJ's left ___. I believe it to be one of the most historical coins out there....

 

 

Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1367. Closing Date: Jun 08, 2005. BRUTUS. Late Summer-Autumn 42 BC. AR Denarius (3.51 gm, 12h). Mint moving with Brutus in northern Greece. L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Bidding Closed Estimate $50000

 

BRUTUS. Late Summer-Autumn 42 BC. AR Denarius (3.51 gm, 12h). Mint moving with Brutus in northern Greece. L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Bare head of Brutus right / EID • MAR, pileus between two daggers. Crawford 508/3; Cahn 22d (same dies); CRI 216; Sydenham 1301; RSC 15. EF, minor edge crystallization. Rare and popular type. ($50,000)

 

Marcus Junius Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus and Julius Caesar's former mistress, Servilia. By 59 BC he acquired the alternative name Quintus Caepio Brutus through adoption by his uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio. Brought up by Porcius Cato, he was educated in philosophy and oratory and long retained a fierce hatred of his natural father’s murderer, Pompey. He began his political career in 58 BC by accompanying Cato to Cyprus. As triumvir monetalis in about 54 BC he issued coins illustrating his strong views with Libertas and portraits of his ancestors L. Junius Brutus (who overthrew Tarquinius Superbus, the last Etruscan king of Rome) and Servilius Ahala (the later fifth century BC tyrannicide) (Crawford 433/1 and 2, respectively). In 53 BC Brutus served in Cilicia as quaestor to Appius Claudius Pulcher, whose successor, Cicero, found that ‘the honourable Brutus’ was extracting 48 per cent interest on a loan to the city of Salamis in Cyprus, contrary to the lex Gabinia.

 

Brutus, the principled student, stoic, and Platonist who wrote a number of philosophical treatises and poems, seems an unlikely tyrannicide, quite dissimilar to the vehement Cassius. Despite his hatred of Pompey, he followed him in the Civil War of 49 BC against Caesar, but after the former’s defeat at Pharsalus he sought and was granted Caesar’s pardon. He proceeded to enjoy Caesar’s favor and was appointed governor of Gaul in 46 BC, praetor in 44 BC and consul designate for 41 BC. Perhaps under the influence of his second wife Porcia, Cato’s daughter, Brutus joined the conspiracy against Caesar, becoming the leader alongside Cassius. The reaction of the populace in the aftermath of the Ides of March compelled Brutus to leave Rome in April 44 BC.

 

The Senate’s resolution to declare him a ‘public enemy’ on 28 November 44 BC was soon repealed and in February 43 BC he was appointed governor of Crete, the Balkan provinces and later Asia. Suspecting the intentions of Antony and Octavian, Brutus went to Macedonia and won the loyalty of its governor, Hortensius, and there levied an army and seized much of the funds prepared by Caesar for his Parthian expedition. Successful against the Bessi in Thrace, he was hailed imperator by his troops, but after the establishment of the triumvirate in November 43 BC he was outlawed again and joined forces with Cassius at Sardes. In the summer of 42 BC they marched through Macedonia and in October met Octavian on the Via Egnatia just outside Philippi and won the first battle. Cassius, as his conservative coins show, remained true to the old cause, while Brutus followed the self-advertising line of Antony in the new age of unashamed political propaganda and struck coins displaying his own portrait. Brutus’ estrangement from Cassius was effectively complete when this remarkably assertive coin was struck extolling the pileus or cap of liberty (symbol of the Dioscuri, saviors of Rome, and traditionally given to slaves who had received their freedom) between the daggers that executed Caesar. In the ironic twist of fate, Brutus committed suicide during the second battle at Philippi on 23 October 42 BC, using the dagger with which he assassinated Caesar.

 

This extraordinary type is one of the few specific coin issues mentioned by a classical author, Dio Cassius, Roman History 47. 25, 3: “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.” 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.

[the_Thing ®]

I expect this one to sell for over $100,000.

[truthteller]

Are you going to bid on it?

 

 

 

TRUTH

[the_Thing ®]

I am a blessed man. I have a beautiful wife, God endowed me in all the right places, nice home, own my own business, good income, but I'm not rich enough to bid on that.

[Hoot]

This piece does look less rubbed or perhaps a better strike, but the off-centered aspect of it makes it less attractive to me. Great history.

 

Hoot

[the_Thing ®]

The first piece looked a bit porus to me with rough surfaces. Like you said, this is certainly a sharper strike. I forget how many of these are known, I think between 20 and 40. This example certainly isn't the finest known, but I would put it in the top 15.

[TJ]

Thing, are you familiar with this site?

vcoins

[the_Thing ®]

Very much so. Why do you ask.

[TJ]

Very much so. Why do you ask.

Because I was reading about the site at another site.

[the_Thing ®]

Good site of mostly reputable dealers.

[TJ]

Good site of mostly reputable dealers.

I can buy an ancient roman ring for 30 bucks.

[the_Thing ®]

Yea, you can get them fairly cheap. For a bit more, you can buy some with stones in them.

[TJ]

Yea, you can get them fairly cheap. For a bit more, you can buy some with stones in them.

Next time you have one of your contests, an ancient ring would make a better prize than a crusty coin. Food for thought. Free advice. You're welcome.

[shirohniichan]

I don't think I could marry a woman named "Porcia."

[JamminJ]

I don't think I could marry a woman named "Porcia."

 

How about Regan or Goneril?

[shirohniichan]

I don't think I could marry a woman named "Porcia."

 

How about Regan or Goneril?

 

Nah, but Agrippina and Messalina sound like nice names for a devoted and chaste wife.