Julius Caesar - Dictator in Perpetuity, for about a month

If it hadn't taken 4 months to reach me, this is the coin that would have been at the top of my 2014 favorites list.

The short version of the story :

I won it in an auction last September, but the auction house mistakenly sent it to the wrong address. When I informed them of the error, they tried to contact the person they had sent it to but never received a reply. After three frustrating months of correspondence with the auction house, I had just about given up hope of their getting the coin back from whomever they had sent it to when, two weeks ago, they found the package returned to their office. They duly sent it on to me (this time with the correct address), and so here we have it, after a long wait and 20,000 miles of international jet-setting... my JC denarius!


JULIUS CAESAR
AR Denarius
3.77g, 19mm
Rome mint, struck by L. Aemilius Buca, February - March 44 BC
Crawford 480/8; Sydenham 1061; RCV 1411
O: CAESAR DICT PERPETVO, wreathed head of Caesar facing right.
R: L BVCA, Venus standing left, holding Victory and a sceptre.
Ex David Sellwood Collection

Julius Caesar's moneyers started striking coins bearing his portrait in either late January or early February 44 BC. Soon thereafter, the senate awarded him a new title, dictator perpetuo ("Dictator in perpetuity"), and accordingly a new series of coins bearing the legend DICT PERPETVO began to be struck.

Caesar's use of his portrait and title on the coins confirmed for some what they saw as his monarchical and divine aspirations, and these were too great an affront to the ideals of the Roman Republic to bear. This series of coins were the ones being struck when a mere month later, on 15th March 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated in the Curia of Pompey by a group of conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus.

A large quantity of these portrait coins were struck before, and most likely also for a short period of time after, Caesar's assassination, and enough have survived such that they tend to be quite readily available on the market. They are not the prettiest of coins to begin with, and moreover many were quite haphazardly struck, off-center, missing devices and worse. Nevertheless, an example in almost any grade is a great piece of history to hold in your hands. As a collector of Roman coins, I'm almost giddily pleased with mine. In spite of the flatly-struck areas, I think it's quite a strong example of the type, and I'm glad I decided to upsize my usual per coin budget in order to win it. Most of all though, I'm happy it didn't end up getting permanently lost in the mail!

Please feel free to post your JC coins!

 

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Wheeeee! ​

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What a journey. Great coin... congratulations!

 

Such and impressive coin. Impressive story about acquiring the coin. I am glad you got it, especially with those odds stacked against you. It would be safe to say both Venus and Fortuna have graced you this favor. I would make an offering ASAP.

 

One of the best I've seen. I'm sure you paid a pretty penny for it, but well worth it!

 

Fantastic score, Z-bro!! (congrats)

... sadly, I don't have a Julius Caesar coin, yet (not even a crappy example, let alone a beauty like your new score!!)

 

Any JC portrait coin comes at a dear price from my own search for such. This is truly a fine example of his portrait so that we can get a close glimpse of how he actually appeared. I have a JC portrait coin, but it was once holed (now filled) and once worn in a setting as jewelry. Not near as nice, but I had to pay for the portrait.

JULIUS CAESAR
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: CAESAR IMP, laureate head right, lituus & simpulum behind
REVERSE: M METTIVS, Venus standing left with Victory & scepter, shield resting on globe; control letter G to left
Rome January-February 44 BC
3.81g, 18mm
RSC 34

 

Of course, one of my favorite JC coins is not a portrait coin, and one I got for a song:

JULIUS CAESAR
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Diademed head of Venus right.
REVERSE: CAESAR - Aeneas advancing left, carrying Anchises and palladium
Carthage 47 to 46 BC
4.0g, 17mm
CRI 55, Sydenham 1013, RRC 458/1, S 1402

 

Thanks for the compliments, coinfriends. If there's a coin cloud 9, I'm on it. For 4 months all I had was the the auction house photo to look at, and it was a far far cry from the coin in hand.

This is a good idea, which I shall follow up on immediately!

 

I believe yours is almost indisputably a lifetime issue, though?
What I have with mine is one of those coins that you can imagine one of the conspirators holding up and going, "So this is the man who would be a king and a living god? Not on my watch!". And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

impressive coin

 

that's a super coin Z, man oh man. what a calamity if that would have been lost.

 

Cool piece of history. As you can see I've always loved the Caesar elephant coin. Most people assume that it symbolizes Caesar (the elephant) stomping on Gaul (the serpent or serpent horn). I always wonder if that in Caesars mind the serpent was the Senate and this coin was Caesars way of saying "here I come"

 

Fantastic portrait of JC, worth the waiting. With all this excitement and angst you must be happy of every penny you spent on it.
Congrats for a great acquisition

I have four JC coins, one of them only bearing a portrait of The Man :



Q

 

Going to have to start saving for one of these. I have the elephant but no portrait.

 

Worth the wait, very nice!

 

4 months wait? I can't even go one week waiting. Super nice coin.

 

I've never had to wait less than one week, though usually no more than three. In this case the wait served to make the eventual receiving sweeter, especially since at times it seemed like the coin was lost for good.

 

That is a nice coin !
Amazing how one can hold a part of history.
It would have been interesting to see what DIVI IVLIVS could had done if he had not been murdered. Avenge Crassus , go into germany, started the Empire ??? One will never know. Enough of my rambling for now.

 

Glad you got it, it's a killer coin! I'd be PO'd with the AH

Here are mine (both fake, one ancient)

 

Killer coin Z, glad it showed up, it seems like we are always waiting for a coin to show, i have two in the pipeline over a month and no where in sight.
Love your new coin, very nice...