A rare Roman coin featuring the portrait of Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar, was sold for €1.98 million on Monday at a Geneva auction hosted by Numismatica Genevensis.
The historic artifact was acquired by a European collector after fierce competition among eight online bidders, fetching over 1.83 million Swiss francs ($2.09 million), according to the auction house.
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Originally valued at over €800,000, the eight-gram coin, comparable in size to a euro, was described by Frank Baldacci, director of Numismatica Genevensis, as “a piece of history” symbolizing the twilight of the Roman Republic.
Minted between 43-42 BC by Brutus and his allies after Caesar’s assassination in March 44 BC, the coin features Brutus’ profile on the obverse, encircled by a laurel wreath, while the reverse displays military symbols celebrating victories. Baldacci noted that the laurel wreath symbolized Brutus’ aspirations to establish himself as emperor, serving as a form of propaganda.
One of only 17 known examples, the coin resurfaced in the 1950s in a private collector’s catalogue and later sold for 360,000 Swiss francs at a Zurich auction in 2006.
