Two Brutus Coins Certified by NGC Ancients Each Realize $312,000

Two coins issued by Brutus, both certified by the Ancients division of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®), realized $312,000 apiece in a Heritage Auctions sale. Eight other ancient coins certified by NGC Ancients also realized prices over $100,000 in the World's Fair of Money World & Ancient Coins Platinum Night Auction, held on August 19, 2021.

An EID MAR Silver Denarius graded NGC Ancients XF, 4/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface with a notation of bankers' marks (lot 33047) is one of only about 100 known. With two daggers and a liberty cap on its reverse, Brutus' EID MAR coinage is the only Roman coin to openly celebrate a murder: Julius Caesar's.

Roman Imperatorial, Marcus Junius Brutus (died 42 B.C.) EID MAR Silver Denarius graded NGC Ancients XF, 4/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface with a notation of bankers' marks. Realized: $312,000 Click images to enlarge.

After the infamous killing on the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 B.C., Brutus fled Rome and later raised an army with fellow assassin Cassius to battle Caesar's successors, Octavian and Marc Antony. Roman military commanders frequently minted their own coins, sometimes in mint workshops that traveled with the army. They often used these coins as a means of propaganda, or to commemorate significant victories.

Brutus also issued gold coins, including the one in this auction: a Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch F★, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface (lot 32003). One side of this incredible issue shows Brutus, while the other features the man he regarded as an early ancestor, Lucius Junius Brutus, one of the first Consuls of the Republic nearly 500 years earlier. Fewer than 10 of these coins are known to exist.

Roman Imperatorial, Brutus (d. 42 B.C.) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch F★, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface. Realized: $312,000 Click images to enlarge.

Ultimately, Brutus met a bloody end, committing suicide after being beaten in battle by Octavian and Marc Antony in 42 B.C. Octavian later emerged as the winner in a civil war with Marc Antony and subsequently established the Roman Empire. Coins from both Marc Antony and Octavian were also among the NGC Ancients-certified highlights in the sale:

• a Roman Imperatorial, Athens (38 B.C.) Marc Antony and Octavia Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch VF, 4/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface (lot 32005) that realized $216,000, well above its pre-auction estimate of $75,000 to $100,000
• a Romano-Gallic Empire, Victorinus (A.D. 269-271) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch AU★, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface with Fine Style (lot 33100) that realized $180,000, well above its pre-auction estimate of $80,000 to $100,000
• a Roman Empire, Octavian (circa 30-29 B.C.) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch AU, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface (lot 32006) that realized $168,000, well above its pre-auction estimate of $50,000 to $75,000
• a Mysia, Pergamum (after 334 B.C.) Gold Stater graded NGC Ancients Ch MS, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface (lot 33018) that realized $132,000
• a Roman Empire, Vitellius (A.D. 69) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch XF, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface (lot 32027) that realized $120,000
• a Roman Empire, Domitian (A.D. 81-96) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients MS, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface with Fine Style (lot 32037) that realized $114,000, well above its pre-auction estimate of $30,000 to $40,000
• a Romano-Gallic Empire, Tetricus I (A.D. 271-274) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch AU★, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface with Fine Style (lot 33101) that realized $114,000
• a Sicily, Syracuse circa 405-370 B.C. Silver Decadrachm graded NGC Ancients Ch AU, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface with Fine Style (lot 33002) that realized $102,000
• a Roman Empire, Hadrian (A.D. 117-138) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients MS★, 5/5 Strike and 5/5 Surface with Fine Style (lot 33041) that realized $96,000
• a Roman Empire, Julius Caesar (d. 44 B.C.) Restoration Under Trajan Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients VF, 5/5 Strike and 2/5 Surface (lot 32001) that realized $96,000

Related Links:

• A New World Record! NGC Ancients-certified EID MAR Aureus Realizes Nearly $4.2 Million at Auction
• NGC Ancients: Caesar and Brutus - A Brief Survey