Roman gold coin commemorating the assassination of Julius Caesar 2,000 years ago sells for a record

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...ination-Caesar-sells-record-3-24-MILLION.html

 

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we know...

 

Sorry, I'm a foreign currency guy. Saw the article and thought it was interesting.

 

DOn't be sorry, Midas. I saw this article before too but every time I re-read it and look at the photographs. Among the most gorgeous gold coins I have ever seen.

 

I do appreciate the number of people who thought we might like notice of the sale. I suppose it would be possible to look over the posts already up and see if you could find four threads on the subject but it is better to have extras than to miss out altogether. Personally I don't see all the to-do about the coin. You do realize it is the worst know example not currently residing in a museum (unless we find that the buyer was a museum). If it is in a museum, I hope they will decide to put it on display rather than hiding it in the back vault. I do hope we get to know the identity of the buyer. I suspect it was not a Coin Talk regular following our usual advice not to post new purchases before they safely arrive in the mail. How does one ship a coin in this bracket? I do hope it wears a mask.

 

It was 32 years ago that I was at the Smithsonian but if my memory serves me right I saw one of these there. I don't know if it belonged to the museum or was a loaner. Does anyone know if the Smithsonian has one?

 

I imagine that it will be shipped by Brink's or a similar service. The same way that a diamond of that value would be shipped.

 

Insured DHL? That would be awfully risky. I'd hate to have it held up in customs or ISC-New York as we suffer through with run-of-the-mill coins. In the old days with DHL you could request personal courier service, which was someone checked onto an international flight with a satchel containing the prized item. In the first part of my career (up until age 26) I worked at an International Air Express company...

 

For a bit less than that (well a tad bit ), I go in person to have the coin delivered

Q

 

Marcus Junius Brutus, two daggers and the Ides of March.
Fascinating to me.

 

According to the auction house, there are three examples known. In addition to the piece sold yesterday, there is one on "long-term loan" to the British Museum and one in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection.

 

A rumor has it that the buyer may be Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza... There aren't a lot of players at this level anyway and he is one of them. it would be nice if it was him and not a random egocentric billionaire

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/arts/lorne-thyssen-bornemisza-kallos-tefaf.html
I know nothing but the above link includes this piece:
Where do you want to go with your own collection?

I believe that private collectors should open their collections to the public and to the academic community. Otherwise, it becomes a selfish exercise.

I have two pieces on loan to the Ashmolean Museum [in Oxford] at the moment.

Obviously my intention in the long term would be to open a small museum somewhere, perhaps in London. That would be my endgame.

Whoever it is, I hope they share that philosophy.

 

For comparison, here are the other two. First, the Deutsche Bundesbank specimen.



Second, the example presently on loan to the British Museum.

 

Does it matter they appear to be struck using different dies.