On October 29, an auction took place at the Roma Numismatics auction, where the main lot was a coin of incredible rarity. There are only three such coins in the world. Gold areus minted in 42 BC. With an initial bid of $644,000, the coin was purchased by an unknown buyer for the astronomical sum of $3.5 million. At the same time, the auction commission amounted to 700 thousand dollars. In total, the coin cost the anonymous buyer $4.2 million.
What is so expensive and valuable in this coin? As always in such cases, the price was influenced by four factors. Rarity, condition, history and authentication.
Rarity. As mentioned above, there are only three such coins known in the world. One coin is kept in the British Museum (History). This coin belongs to a private collector, and is exhibited in the museum on loan. The second coin belongs to the Bundesbank (Germany) and is exhibited as a true treasure in the Bank Money Museum in Frankfurt.
History of the lot.Everything here is wonderful and very interesting. This is a coin of Marcus Junius Brutus. Yes, yes, exactly, the same Brutus, whose name went down in history for the murder of Julius Caesar. And, you are Brutus… And the history of the coin is as follows. It was minted on the eve of the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC. The coin depicts the profile of Brutus and two knives symbolizing the very murder of Caesar. The coins were minted right in the military camp and on the eve of the battle with the army led by Mark Antony, they were issued as salaries to legionnaires and officers. Moreover, legionnaires were paid in silver, while only officers were entitled to gold coins.
After the victory in the battle, Brutus was executed, and all the gold coins were melted down by order of Anthony. It is for this reason that Brutus’ areus is such a rare coin.
Battle of Philippi
Coin condition. As we can see in the photo. The coin is in almost perfect condition. As experts note, several dots around Brutus’s profile have been erased on the coin, but overall the specimen is of excellent quality. For example, Brutus’ areus, which is kept in the British Museum, has a hole under the monisto. By the way, in relation to this coin, experts found that the hole in the coin was made almost immediately after minting. Which means it’s most likely. one of Brutus’ supporters wore an areus as a medallion.
Areus specimen on display in the British Museum
Authentication. If you think that counterfeiting rare coins is a modern phenomenon, then you are mistaken. Rare coins began to be counterfeited when the entire European nobility became passionately interested in numismatics. So, for example, the same areus of Brutus was bought by King George III. (1738 – 1820). It was later established. That the coins bought by the king are fake. This is a separate story, maybe we’ll come back to it someday.
As for the current areus of Brutus, its authenticity was established based on confirmation of the previous owners of the coin. The history of ownership of this coin is documented across all periods and begins with the name of Baron Dominique de Chambrier in 1700.
Purchased for $4.2 million, Brutus’ areus coin is currently the most valuable coin of the ancient world. I liked the note? Like, subscribe to our channel and leave comments. And we will continue to write and publish stories that interest you.