Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Meat man, post: 24764129, member: 135271&quot;]A week or two ago (as some of you who are also on Numis Forums may have seen) I mentioned that I had a major milestone coin coming in the mail. Well, after some mishaps and delays, it’s finally arrived! And I could not be more excited to present to you all –</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">*drumroll*</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b>my new, lifetime portrait denarius of the man himself, Gaius Julius Caesar!</b><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie57" alt=":jawdrop:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/JuliusCaesardenariusportrait.jpg.3f80e71e55b3b84e43881a8293a0776e.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/JuliusCaesardenariusportrait.jpg.3f80e71e55b3b84e43881a8293a0776e.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/JuliusCaesardenariusportrait.jpg.3f80e71e55b3b84e43881a8293a0776e.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A bucket list coin if ever there was one, and one which I thought might take years to acquire! The problem was, while I wanted a half-decent example, I wasn’t sure I wanted to sink $1,500-$2000 into <i>any</i> coin. Yet it’s pretty unusual to find a respectable specimen for under that, at least these days!</p><p><br /></p><p>I wasn’t necessarily actively shopping for a lifetime JC denarius, but…while browsing some coins for sale recently I noticed this worn but quite respectable specimen offered at a price <i>just</i> within my means - at least, within my means if you took a few steps back and squinted a little. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie67" alt=":nailbiting:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The coin fulfilled my most basic requirements: first, a fully outlined (if not greatly detailed) portrait; second, at least most of the inscriptions – the most important being his name; I also wanted a “DICT PERPETVO” type, as that was perhaps the most flagrantly monarchical of Caesar’s titles, the coins featuring it also among the latest struck in his lifetime. The rather less-than-common reverse type added appeal to me as well, though of course I would have been perfectly contented with the standard Venus type too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, you know how it is! As Julius Caesar’s assassin Brutus is said to have remarked, <i>“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to....an empty wallet and a remarkable and fascinating piece of numismatic history”</i> or words to that effect. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> After some brief but intense deliberation I made the purchase, and I couldn’t be more pleased!</p><p><br /></p><p>Now as for the history…this type was possibly one the very latest struck during Caesar’s lifetime, since he wasn’t made dictator<i> in perpetvo</i> until mid-February of 44 BC. Most date this type from February to March of 44 BC. Andreas Alföldi, the great Hungarian scholar and numismatist who specialized in the coinage of Julius Caesar, narrows this date down strictly to early March. Andrew McCabe favors Alföldi’s date, though acknowledges that the differences between Alföldi and Crawford are minimal. This would mean that this coin was struck possibly <i>within a few days</i> – at most, a week or two – of Caesar’s assassination. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie57" alt=":jawdrop:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">- THE COIN THAT KILLED CAESAR -</p><p><br /></p><p>This, and other similar types are sometimes called “the coins that killed Caesar”. While that may be a bit of an overstatement, there’s no doubt that Caesar choosing to strike his own portrait onto coins – something no Roman had ever done before – was a blatant violation of centuries of Republican tradition. Add to that fact Caesar’s use of the title <i>DICT PERPETVO </i>(a kingship in all but name), and you can imagine how such a coin would have angered the conservative Senators.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse of this type is interesting and illustrates the degree of power Caesar wielded in these last days of his life. A bundle of fasces, an ancient symbol going back to Etruscan times, symbolized the <i>imperium</i> or magisterial power; this is crossed with a winged caduceus, a symbol of the god Mercury, often associated with peace and prosperity. The axe or <i>secespita</i> was a ceremonial knife used in sacrificial rituals – no doubt a reference to Caesar’s office as Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Jupiter: another lifelong appointment. The clasped hands speak of a concord and unity that was maybe more wishful thinking than anything else, and the globe symbolized the world, over which Rome ruled. In sum, the message we get from L. Buca is one of peace, prosperity, and concord under the gods throughout the whole of the Roman world. All thanks to the man on the other side of the coin, of course!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Thanks for reading and please, I&#039;d love to see all of your Julius Caesar portrait coins (most of which will probably put mine to shame! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie7" alt=":p" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />)</b></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">The Tusculum portrait, possibly the only surviving sculpture of Caesar made during his lifetime.</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">Archaeological Museum, Turin, Italy.</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Retrato_de_Julio_Csar_(26724093101)_(cropped).jpg.1765af7b5a34e5126ac3d68357884e4b.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Retrato_de_Julio_Csar_(26724093101)_(cropped).jpg.1765af7b5a34e5126ac3d68357884e4b.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Retrato_de_Julio_Csar_(26724093101)_(cropped).jpg.1765af7b5a34e5126ac3d68357884e4b.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">[image and description from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>]</font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">Shakespeare&#039;s brilliant opening lines of Act III, Scene I - the brief, but darkly portentous exchange between Caesar and the Soothsayer:</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/idesofmarch.jpg.034e11e55ba85a77929a41e420c86b08.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/idesofmarch.jpg.034e11e55ba85a77929a41e420c86b08.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/idesofmarch.jpg.034e11e55ba85a77929a41e420c86b08.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>La mort de Cèsar (The Death of Caesar</i>), an 1806 painting by Vincenzo Camuccini depicting the assassination of Julius Caesar:</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>&quot;Speak, hands, for me!&quot; - Casca</i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Vincenzo_Camuccini_-_La_morte_di_Cesare.jpg.8bcb223cb7b865ded34afbf0a0dd18a7.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Vincenzo_Camuccini_-_La_morte_di_Cesare.jpg.8bcb223cb7b865ded34afbf0a0dd18a7.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Vincenzo_Camuccini_-_La_morte_di_Cesare.jpg.8bcb223cb7b865ded34afbf0a0dd18a7.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">[image and description from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Julius_Caesar_(Camuccini)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Julius_Caesar_(Camuccini)" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>]</font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>The Death of Caesar</i> (French: <i>La Mort de César</i>) is an 1867 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. It depicts the moment after the assassination of Julius Caesar, when the jubilant conspirators are walking away from Caesar&#039;s dead body at the Theatre of Pompey, on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 BC. The painting is kept at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>&quot;Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!&quot; - Cinna</i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Jean-Lon_Grme_-_The_Death_of_Caesar_-_Walters_37884.jpg.ac0c97e68fa75b77cdb20a07d548cc52.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Jean-Lon_Grme_-_The_Death_of_Caesar_-_Walters_37884.jpg.ac0c97e68fa75b77cdb20a07d548cc52.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Jean-Lon_Grme_-_The_Death_of_Caesar_-_Walters_37884.jpg.ac0c97e68fa75b77cdb20a07d548cc52.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3"><br /></font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">[image and description from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Caesar_(G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Caesar_(G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me)" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>]</font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">Irony of ironies, it wasn&#039;t too long before Brutus himself began to put his own portrait and titles on the coinage, along with an explicit celebration of the assassination of Julius Caesar on the ides of March. Of course, this is only a replica of one of the most famous coin types in all ancient history:</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/eid_mar_landis.jpg.f5cb901fb3e536c5d3b11c70568ded2f.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/eid_mar_landis.jpg.f5cb901fb3e536c5d3b11c70568ded2f.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/eid_mar_landis.jpg.f5cb901fb3e536c5d3b11c70568ded2f.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">But in the end, the assassins gravely underestimated their greatest enemy...</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>&quot;Look, - I draw a sword against conspirators; when think you that the sword goes up again? - Never, till Caesar&#039;s three-and-thirty wounds be well avenged; or till another Caesar have added slaughter to the words of traitors.&quot; - Octavius Caesar</i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Octavian.jpg.102794589a86ff8868855d5540236fcd.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Octavian.jpg.102794589a86ff8868855d5540236fcd.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/Octavian.jpg.102794589a86ff8868855d5540236fcd.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in