Finally...a lifetime portrait of Julius Caesar

Congratulations on your new acquisition, Mr. Orfew! Very nice coin! It's a great feeling to finally hold in your hand a coin that you've quested for. I'm still high* from acquiring a group of Judaean coins that I've only seen pictures of in books. To actually hold them and be able to study them with my high powered magnifying lens—obverse side—reverse side—and EDGES!!!

*Collecting ancient coins is one of the new ways that I get high. The old ways nearly killed me.

 

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Great coin Orfew, with a detailed portrait. Congrats on your purchase of this fantastic coin.

 

I can only dream. Thanks for sharing these.

 

I agree with the others-- any portrait coin of JC is a good thing to have . Given a choice though I'd prefer one like your new coin or a DICT PERPETVO.

 

i'm with ya!..

 

Great coin! These are usually pretty poorly struck, yours is really great. Lots of appeal.

Here are mine



44 BC Julius Caesar Lifetime Portrait denarius
CAESAR DICT PERPETVO
laureate head of Julius Caesar right

L BVCA
Venus seated right holding Victory on extended right hand, transverse scepter in left

Struck Feb - Mar 14th, 44 BC.
RCV 1410, RSC 24.


Rare. Venus seated' only appears on this one type of Caesar's 'lifetime' issues, on the remainder she is standing.

Lucius Aemilius Buca was a distant relative of the dictator Sulla. This coin was struck within a month of Caesar's murder.

Ex-Incitatus, Ex-CNG Electronic Auction 223, lot 393



47/46 BC Julius Caesar
Diademed head of Venus right, wearing necklace, hair collected into a knot, falling in two locks

CAESAR
Aeneas, naked, advancing left, head facing, holding palladium in extended right hand and bearing his father, Anchises, wearing long tunic and hood, on his left shoulder.


Military mint moving with Caesar in North Africa.

47-46 BC

3.5g

Crawford 458/1; CRI 55; Sydenham 1013; RSC 12.

Ex-Munzhandlung Polak

The reverse depicts Aeneas’ flight from Troy, with his elderly father Anchises on his shoulder. Virgil's epic poam The Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas. When Troy was sacked by the Greeks, Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group of Trojan's and then travelled to Italy and became progenitors of the Roman people.

Probably struck in Africa during Caesar’s campaign against the remaining Pompeian's. The obverse depicts Venus, from whom Caesar claimed descent via Iulus, son of the Trojan prince Aeneas, who was the son of Anchises and Venus.

 

Thanks @Jay GT4 I really like that first one of yours...lots of character. I have also been looking for one of the Anchises type.

 

Sweet addition Orfew. I'm hoping to add a lifetime JC portrait some time this year. These two will do for now though.

An upgrade to the elephant would be nice too.

 

Nice coins @Ajax I especially like your Anchises type.

 

Well done!! The portrait is awesome... very Caesarish with a thin face and wrinkly neck. Clear name too, so checks all the boxes! I also had to wait a long time on a portrait. I must have bid on dozens and dozens before snagging this one within budget.

 

Very cool. Congrats!

 

Not very nice coin surfaces, but I wanted a DICT PERPETVO with a reasonably well centered portrait, and this is the best I could find.



Denarius, Crawford, Roman Republican Coins (RRC), No. 480/8 (March 44 BC - Alföldi)

Coin obverse depiction: Julius Caesar laureate bust facing right

Inscription clockwise from right: CAESAR DICT PERPETVO (Dictator in Perpetuity)

Coin reverse depiction: Venus Victrix standing, facing left, holding statuette of victory on palm of right hand and supporting vertical scepter with left hand

Inscription vertical to right: L BVCA (L. Aemilius Buca, Moneyer)

Weight: 3.5g

Provenance: Ex Chris Martin

 

Thanks @Severus Alexander I love the portrait on yours and "Caesar" is easily readable.

 

Thanks for posting this @jamesicus I had a hard time deciding which the to get. I really like the DICT PERPETUO obverse. However, the one I chose showed up in an auction so I jumped on it. The most important criterion for me was that it was a lifetime portrait.

 

Many thanks to all for your very kind comments. I also really appreciated seeing all of these Caesar denarii. I hope there are still a few out there.

 

Et tu @Orfew ! The portrait on your coin is, in my opinion, superb - far nicer than the one on mine. However, we cannot be too particular when pursuing these wonderful historical artifacts - lifetime portrait Julius Caesar coins in any condition are so very hard to come by.

 

And I admire all of the Julius Caesar lifetime portraits that have been posted here:
@Severus Alexander, @Jay GT4, @zumbly, @Nemo, @Alegandron, @Bing, et al.

 

Thanks @lordmarcovan getting any portrait of JC for under 500 is quite a feat. Yours has a recognizable portrait and most of "Caesar". I think that was a great buy.

 

I appreciate the detail on your JC Orfew, very nice.

Direct from Rome in early 44BC~


Today, located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, you can find the remains of Republican temples, Pompey's Theatre (JC is believed to have been assassinated in the Curia of Pompey's Theatre) and the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary.