Rare Roman coin featuring Brutus sold at auction

GENEVA

A rare Roman coin featuring the portrait of Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar, has sold at a Geneva auction for 1.98 million euros, according to the organizer Numismatica Genevensis.

The item was purchased by a “European collector following intense bidding among eight online bidders,” the dealer said in a statement.

The coin was originally priced at more than 800,000 euros.

Weighing eight grams and similar in size to a euro, it is “a piece of history” marking the last chapters of the Roman republic, the director of Numismatica Genevensis, Frank Baldacci,said before the sale.

The coin was minted in 43-42 B.C. by Brutus and his supporters, who murdered Julius Caesar in March 44 B.C., he explained.

It features the profile of Brutus surrounded by laurel wreath on the front and has war symbols on the reverse to celebrate his military victories.

The wreath in particular was a sign of someone who wants to promote himself as emperor, Baldacci said, and its circulation offered propaganda value for Brutus. It is one of only 17 known artefacts of its kind, the auction house said.

It resurfaced in the 1950s, published in a private collector’s catalogue and later appeared in a 2006 auction in Zurich where it was sold to another private collector for 360,000 Swiss francs.