168, Lot: 220. Estimate $3000. Sold for $3902. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Julius Caesar. 45 BC. AV Aureus (20mm, 8.08 g). Rome mint. L. Munatius Plancus, Urban Prefect. Draped bust of Victory right; border of dots / Jug. Crawford 475/1a; CRI 60; Sydenham 1019; Bahrfeldt 20; Calicó 45. VF, a few minor field marks.

The aurei of Munatius Plancus were distributed during Caesar’s triumph of October 45 BC, celebrating his final defeat of the Pompeians at Munda the previous year. This triumph raised some concerns in Rome, as it marked a victory over fellow Romans, an event never before deserving a triumph. Such actions only heightened the fears in some quarters over Caesar’s intentions, fears which lead to his assassination six months later. Before his murder Caesar appointed Plancus governor of Transalpine Gaul, where he founded the colony of Lugdunum..