Julius Caesar veiled portrait denarius

Silver denarius, Crawford 480/13, Sydenham 1074, Sear CRI 107d, RSC I Julius Caesar 39, BMCRR I Rome 4173, SRCV I 1414, Vagi 56.

In the year 44 BC, on the 14th of February, Julius Caesar was given the title Dictator for life, as written on the obverse - CAESAR DICT PERPETVO. Just one month later he was stabbed to death. In between those two events this particular coin was struck. The portrait shows Caesar wearing a veil, a symbol for the office of Pontifex Maximus (chief high priest), which he acquired 19 years earlier, after having spent obscene amounts of loaned money on bribes.
On the reverse, the name of the moneyer P SEPVLLIVS MACER encircles the goddess Venus, who holds Victory in her outstretched right hand and a scepter, resting on a shield, in her right. At the time it was well known that Caesar actually regarded Venus as an ancestor of his.

To sum it up; Here is Caesar; descended from the gods; supreme master of both state and religion. No wonder this coin has been called “The coin that killed Caesar”.

@AncientJoe has done an excellent job describing another portrait coin from the C. 480-series here.
One may also enjoy a most informative thread started by @Orfew here.

Please feel free to post anything related to Caesar, coins by Macer, veiled portraits, Pontifex Maximus etc.


Have a most excellent day

 

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Great portrait and toning.

John

 

Great portrait coin!

Julius had many titles. He admired Alexander the Great. It is interesting that he emphasized he did not want to be king, but acted like one.

"He had been named 'Pater Patriae' or Father of the Country and Dictator Perpetuus or Dictator for Life. This title even began to show up on coinage bearing Caesar's likeness, clearly placing him above all others in Rome. Some among the population even referred to him as 'Rex' for King, but this Caesar refused to accept, at least publicly." - https://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/caesar-the-king.php

 

I particularly like the Veiled coin of Caesar. I feel it illustrates his power-base as Pontifex Maximus:


Roman Imperatorial
Julius Caesar Lifetime
P Sepullius Macer
AR Denarius, minted 1st 2 weeks-Mar 44 BCE 4.03g.
CAESAR – DICT PERPETVO Veiled -
Venus Victory sceptre star
Syd 1074a Sear Imperators 107e Cr 480-14
Rare

 

Fantastic coin. One of the nicest of it's type I've seen in this forum.

Here is my related JC. Not veiled, but nice bold PM letters to let everyone know who was the chief priest of the Roman religion.

 

Very nice coin @Hellbent I love the portrait.

Here is mine.

 

Here is my Caesar:

 

Thanks a lot. And yes, I think it is very likely that the next title he wanted for himself was that of "King of Rome". Apparently the red boots he fancied wearing was the same kind sported by the ancient kings. Of course, they could also have been just another fashion trend he wanted to establish. After all, he famously started the trend of wearing his toga long and loosely belted. Sulla reportedly said something like - "Watch out for that badly belted boy".

 

Very nice!

 

Thank you. Yours is a magnificent coin. The evenness of the wear actually makes it more striking. Just like a strong silhouette photograph can have a stronger impact than a more traditionally lit one. Truly lovely.

 

Wow that is a stunning portrait. Just look at the wrinkles of the neck. Very cool coin.

 

Lovely coin. Thanks for sharing. It seems veiled portraits of men are scarce. I know there is one of Marcus Antonius where he, in addition to the veil, carries a beard. Other than that I can't really recall any other such roman coins.

 

My Julius is a two part two-fer with Octavian. It is part of my cut coin collection.

 

I think this is from Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History”- Death Throes of The Republic

 

Or from Seutonius and Plutarchos