The Republicans. Brutus. Spring-early summer 42 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.60 g, 5h). Military mint traveling with Brutus in Lycia. Near EF.

CNG Feature Auction 123
Lot: 518. Estimated: $ 750

Roman Republican, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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The Republicans. Brutus. Spring-early summer 42 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.60 g, 5h). Military mint traveling with Brutus in Lycia. Head of Libertas right / Lyre; quiver to left, laurel branch tied with fillet to right. Crawford 501/1; CRI 199; Sydenham 1287; RSC 5; RBW 1767. Residual luster, off center. Near EF.

Marcus Junius Brutus was a blue-blooded Roman whose fortune derived from lending money at exorbitant interest rates when, in 44 BC, he was suborned into the conspiracy against his former benefactor, Julius Caesar. As his distant ancestor had entered history as a great tyrannicide, Brutus soon became the de-facto leader and spokesman for the assassins. After the Ides of March, Brutus induced a cowed senate to give him a governorship in northern Greece and promptly departed to raise money and arms for the brewing civil war against Caesar’s adherents. He cut a brutal swath through Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor, looting city treasuries and enforcing horrendous taxes at the point of a sword. He turned his ill-gotten gains into silver denarii to pay his growing army and navy, including this type depicting the head of Libertas, exemplar of senatorial liberty. However, Brutus and his companions were soon maneuvered into battle against the Caesarians at Philippi in Greece, where Mark Antony proved to be much the better general. Brutus took his own life with the very dagger he had plunged into Caesar, earning this unattractive character the reputation as a martyr for the cause of liberty.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 123 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 23-24 May 2023. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 23 May 2023 at 2 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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