COSTA MESA, CA .- Stack's Bowers Galleries sold today a colossal rarity among ancient coinage in their August 2023 Global Showcase Auction. Presented from the Dr. Michael Rogers Collection, Part III, was a historic survivor of the EID MAR Denarius struck by one of Julius Caesar’s assassins—and previously one of his closest friends—M. Junius Brutus. It is a coin type that truly stands unrivalled as an icon within ancient numismatics and it sold this morning for $240,000.

Struck during the late summer or early autumn of 42 B.C, roughly two-and-a-half years after the assassination of Rome’s dictator for life, Julius Caesar, the EID MAR Denarius was meant to convey Brutus’ view that Julius Caesar had been slain for the good of the Republic. The two daggers pictured on the coin allude directly to the means by which Caesar had been assassinated, while the Phrygian cap in the middle—an ancient symbol worn by freed slaves—was meant to reinforce the concept of the Republic’s freedom from tyranny.

In addition to this rather explicit iconography, the coin also states the date of the assassination abbreviated as EID MAR. According to the Roman calendar, the Ides was treated as the 15th day of “full” months, so the day on which Caesar was stabbed in the Senate would have been referred to in Latin as “Eidibus Martiis,” or “on the Ides of March.”

The EID MAR Denarius is a timeless type that would undoubtedly serve as the crowning achievement of any advanced collection of ancients. Recent auction records from earlier this year point to the amazing growth and popularity of the type, with similar examples realizing total prices of around $600,000 (June 2023) and $720,000 (May 2023). The fervor for the present Rogers Collection specimen should be similarly enthusiastic when the coin crosses the auction block in August as part of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale.

“Everyone knows the infamous story of Brutus and Julius Caesar, and this EID MAR denarius tells that story in a tangible and dramatic fashion that remains unrivaled among ancient coinage,” said Brian Kendrella, Stack’s Bowers Galleries President.

This third selection from the Dr. Michael Rogers Collection follows Stack’s Bowers Galleries prior landmark offerings from this cabinet in 2021 (Part I) and 2022 (Part II). These earlier groups were highlighted by a pair of gold aureii from Elagabalus and Macrinus that each sold for $312,000 and an exquisite gold aureus from Otho that realized $204,000, which was nearly three times more than the high estimate.