"Ides of March" Coins

Brutus issued a silver denarius celebrating the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March (March 15). The denarius has a portrait of Brutus on the obverse, with on the reverse a liberty cap flanked by two daggers over the inscription EID(ibus) MAR(tiis). The liberty cap was the garment given to a manumitted slave to indicate his free status, so the reverse side symbolizes Brutus and Cassius liberating Rome with their daggers. There are about 60 known copies of the silver denarius including several in the British Museum collection. A superb example made $332,583 in a late 2016 auction. Silver specimens in extremely fine condition have sold at auction for $120,000. Lower grade silver examples can come on the market for around $50,000.

There is only one genuine gold aurei, and it went on display at the British museum last year, in honor of the 2,054th anniversary of Julius Caesar’s assassination. In October of 42 B.C., just months after the coin was struck, Brutus and Cassius were routed by Marc Anthony and Octavian’s forces and died in the Battles of Philippi. Their coins were outlawed and very few survived.