Hail Caesar: Killer's 'Ides of March' silver coin set to fetch £300,000 at auction
Last updated at 9:20 AM on 18th July 2011
The silver Eid Mar is about the size of a one pence coin and marks the assassination of Roman emperor Caesar on the 'Ides of March' - March 15, 42 BC.
It was produced by Caesar's assassin Marcus Brutus, whose head is depicted on one side of the coin.
Assassin: The face of Caesar's killer Marcus Brutus is depicted on the coin
Coining it: The silver Eid Mar is about the size of a one pence coin and marks the assassination of Roman emperor Caesar
The reverse depicts a dome-shaped liberty cap, flanked by two drawn daggers, and the Latin inscription EID MAR.
It is extremely rare because Mark Antony and Octavian - who later defeated Brutus in battle - had the coins recalled and melted down.
DAY SENATE TOOK REVENGE ON CAESAR
Julius Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and 60 other co-conspirators.
On his way to the Theatre of Pompey where he would be assassinated, the all-powerful Caesar visited a seer who had foretold that harm would come to him not later than the Ides of March.
Caesar joked, 'The ides of March are come', to which the seer replied 'Ay, Caesar, but not gone.'
His wife Calpurnia had dreamed of his body streaming with blood and tried to prevent him from leaving the house.
As Caesar took his Senate seat, the conspirators gathered around him. One then took hold of his purple toga and ripped it away from his neck.
A dagger was thrust at Caesar's throat but missed and only wounded him.
Another assassin then drove a dagger into his chest as he twisted away from the first assailant.
Brutus struck Caesar in the groin. It was later written that Brutus was reproached in Greek with the words 'You, too, my child?'
David Michaels, from auctioneer Heritage Auctions, said: 'The Ides of March was struck in 42 BC and this is one of the finest known examples of this historic rarity.
'It is the only Roman coin to openly celebrate an act of murder and to mention a specific date.
'It is also one of the very few ancient coins to enter the popular imagination.
'As an important historic coin with a distinguished pedigree, it is one of the most desirable collectible of any kind that one could ever imagine acquiring.'
If the coin reaches its pre-auction estimate of £314,000 it will establish a record price for a Roman silver coin.
It will be sold at the Long Beach Signature World and Ancient Coins auction in Beverly Hills, in California, on September 7.
Mr Michaels added: 'The Eid Mar is definitely the star of the show.'
Brutus joined the conspiracy against Caeser and is said to have delivered the fatal dagger thrust, prompting Caesar's final words: 'You too, my child?'
After the murder, the conspirators fled Rome in a rush, barely ahead of a lynch mob.
Brutus assembled a pro-Republican power base in Greece where he could wage war against Caesar's successors, Mark Antony and Octavian.
Looting gold and silver from the local population, he began to strike coins to pay his growing army.
His early coinage follows traditional themes, but his final type, the EID MAR breaks the old Republican taboo by placing his own portrait on one side.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015699/Hail-Caesar-Killers-Ides-March-silver-coin-set-fetch-300-000-auction.html#ixzz1SSgD29bh
This is a very interesting coin. It's a must have.
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