A 1st century BC coin designed to push the claims of Brutus to the Roman Imperial throne has been sold for nearly €2 million, £1.64 million, in Switzerland.
The coin was struck in 43 – 42 BC, around a year after Brutus was among those recorded as assassinating Julius Caesar.
The coin is described as “one of the most important and famous coins in Roman numismatics” and “very rare and very fine” in the sale catalogue.
It is propaganda, designed to make Brutus look like a good candidate for Ceasar’s vacated seat.
It shows Brutus with regal laurel wreath on one side and the premature title IMP, or IMPERATOR, emperor and leader of the army.
On the reverse, a suit of armour with weapons symbolise Brutus’s military skills. They are enclosed by the name of his fellow regicide Publius Servilius Casca.
The assassination of the emperor led to one of the greatest crises in the history of Imperial Rome, a civil war that culminated in the Battle of Philippi.
This coin was struck shortly before the battle, probably to rally support for the cause.
As many as 200,000 soldiers took part in a series of encounters near the city of Philippii in Macedonia, now Greece.
Caesar was avenged, and Brutus took his own life.
Only 17 examples of this coin are known to exist according to auctioneers Numismatica Genevensis, who sold the coin in their Masterpieces sale this week.
They said, in a statement, that the coin had been bought by, “a European collector following intense bidding among eight online bidders.”
The battle was enough to push the coin well beyond an €800,000 (around £663,000) estimate.
It is around the size of a pound coin and weights eight grams. The coins were struck from two known obverse dies and four known reverse dies.
The coin first came into the public sphere via a private collection catalogue in the 1950s. It was auctioned for £320,000 in 2006.
Coins are meant to last, and it can be surprisingly affordable to start a collection of classical money.
However, the best, rarest examples can achieve huge sums.
Another Brutus coin, the EID MAR (Ides of March) celebrating the murder of Caesar has sold for $3.5 million at auction in 2020.
An Octivian aureus (Octavian was the first emperor of Rome) reached $1 million in 2020, and a coin of the same value showing Julius Caesar made $4 million in 2020.
