A rare gold coin which commemorates the assassination of the Roman general Julius Caesar sold at auction for a record £3.24 million — including premium — yesterday.
Over two millennia old, the token is one of three of the same design known to have been cast in gold, making it the ‘holy grail’ for ancient coin collectors, experts said.
Previously held in a private collection in Europe, the mint-condition gold coin was sold at auction by London-based Roma Numismatics on October 29, 2020.
The name of the winning bidder has not been revealed by the auctioneers.
The minting of the coin has been described as a ‘naked and shameless celebration’ of Caesar’s murder two years previously in 44 BC.
The assassination was prompted by concern among the Roman senate that Caesar — having recently been named ‘dictator in perpetuity’ — would name himself king.
Fear of this tyranny fostered a conspiracy of 60 senators who ended up stabbing the statesman 23 times, according to history’s first recorded autopsy.
Caesar had, however, been popular with the lower and middle classes — and the uproar in the wake of his assassination helped set in motion the fall of the Republic.
A rare gold coin which commemorates the assassination of the Roman general Julius Caesar (pictured) sold at auction for a record £3.24 million yesterday
‘I’m not surprised it set a world record as the most valuable ancient coin ever sold,’ said Mark Salzberg, the chairman of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, which confirmed the authenticity of the coin.
‘It’s a masterpiece of artistry and rarity, still in mint condition after 2,000 years, and only the third known example made in gold. Many of us believed it would sell for millions, and it did,’ he added.
The coin ‘was made in 42 BC, two years after the famous assassination,’ Mr Salzberg told Fox News back in October.
‘The front has a portrait of Marcus Junius Brutus — one of Caesar’s assassins — and the other side dramatically has two daggers and the words EID MAR, a Latin abbreviation for Ides of March,’ he added.
It also features a ‘cap of liberty’, signifying the motivations behind the murder — and on the other face, the date of the deed.
Nearly 100 of such ‘Ides of March’ coins are known, according to the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation — however, most are cast in silver, and even these are considered essentially unobtainable by aficionados.
Only two others in gold are known to exist — one of which is on display in the British Museum, while the other resides in the permanent collection of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany.
‘There were rumours of a third example and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation authenticators were excited when this coin was submitted at our London office and sent for evaluation at our headquarters in Sarasota, Florida,’ said Mr Salzberg.
‘The coin is only about the size of modern United States five-cent and United Kingdom five-pence denomination coins, but it’s an historic treasure worth far more than its weight in gold.’
‘There were rumours of a third example and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation authenticators were excited when this coin was submitted at our London office and sent for evaluation at our headquarters in Sarasota, Florida,’ said Mr Salzberg. ‘The coin is only about the size of modern United States five-cent and United Kingdom five-pence denomination coins, but it’s an historic treasure worth far more than its weight in gold’
The minting of the coin has been described as a ‘naked and shameless celebration’ of Caesar’s murder two years previously in 44 BC, as depicted. The assassination was prompted by concern among the senate that Caesar — having recently been named ‘dictator in perpetuity’ — would name himself king. Fear of this tyranny fostered a conspiracy of 60 senators who ended up stabbing the statesman 23 times, according to history’s first recorded autopsy
Roma Numismatics’ director Richard Beale said that they were ‘extremely privileged to bring this coin to auction with the invaluable assistance of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, whose expert specialists have assisted in authenticating it.’
‘Considering the coin’s rarity, artistry and fabled place in history, I would not be surprised if it sold for several million,’ Mr Salzberg had told Fox News prior to the auction of the commemorative gold token.
The coin had been given a conservative pre-sale estimate of £500,000 — but its ultimate value at auction (with a hammer price, before fees, of £2.7 million) makes it peerless among ancient coin trades.
Among Roman coins, the previous record-holder — a bronze sestertius of the emperor Hadrian — sold for 2.3 million CHF (then around £1.7 million) in 2008.
Until yesterday, the title of most expensive coin belonged to a Greek gold stater from the city of Panticapaeum, which sold for $3.25 million (equivalent to around £2 million) back in 2012.
