Julius Caesar - 49-44 BC.

 A Choice Portrait like this is exceedingly rare!

  Struck in the last month of his life.

   Roman Imperatorial - Silver Denarius

Rome Mint - Circa February to March 44 BC.

    Publius Sepullius Macer - Moneyer


Obverse: Wreathed head of Julius Caesar right; CAESAR before, DICT PERPETVO
behind, border of dots.



Reverse: Venus standing left, holding Victory on extended right hand left
and resting on sceptre held in left hand, shield on ground to right; MACER
downward before, P SEPVLLIVS behind, border of dots.



    Be Sure to click on hyperlinks for more information!



Condition: Sharp EF, Coin is much, much better than picture. The coin has
excellent metal and surfaces. The coin has medium light silver surfaces
with a lighter silver on the high points. The surfaces have great minty
lustre. The obverse has beautiful golden orange iridescent toning with
tinges of red. The reverse has some minor iridescent toning near the outer
edges. Portrait of Julius Caesar is stunning! The hair detail is intricate
and of fine style, the wreath is fully struck. Venus and Victory have a
razor sharp strike. Centering is off, which is common for these, but the
portrait of Caesar is complete. Excellent strike and excellent detail.
Click to see a smaller picture which is more representative of the coin.
Click to see a larger picture of the obverse which shows the full hair and
wreath detail. Click to see a larger picture of the reverse which shows the
detail of the face and hair roll of Venus. All in all, this is one of the
best portraits of Julius Caesar that you will ever find.



    Be Sure to click on hyperlinks for more information!



Valuation: Why Valuation? This is highly sought portrait of Caesar coin.
The most current price information is found in Sear Roman Coins and their
Values, Millennium Edition, where it is valued at $880.00 in VF and
$2,240.00 in EF. In Sear The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators it
is valued at $2,250.00 in EF. However, choice examples and choice portraits
of Caesar go for much higher than these values. The portrait of Caesar is
the key to valuation of this coin.



See CoinArchives Example #1, where a toned VF was estimated at $750.00 and
sold for $900.00 + 10% = $990.00. It has a flat strike, more wear, and the
portrait is truly flawed.



See also CoinArchives Example #2, where a nice VF was estimated at
$1,200.00 and sold for $1,700.00. It is described as close to EF with some
weakness. Problem is that most of the weakness is on Caesar's head.



See also CoinArchives Example #3, where a good very fine was estimated at
$1,800.00  and sold for $1,400.00. Again, the back of Caesar's head is
weakly struck, the neck does not have the classic wrinkles, and it has more
wear.



See also CoinArchives Example #4, where a choice EF was estimated at
$7,500.00 and sold for $5,500.00 + 15% = $6,325.00. It has nice centering,
but a weak strike on the wreath, the neck wrinkles, Venus' head, and parts
of the legend.



See also CoinArchives Example #5, where a toned EF with a choice portrait
was estimated at $5,500.00 and sold for $8,000.00 + 15% = $9,200. It is a
nice coin with nice centering, a weak reverse and more wear on the high
points than the coin on auction.



The coin on auction has the best portrait of Caesar, better than any of the
examples.



To find another portrait of Caesar this good could take decades. Even a
slightly better coin than this one would cost thousands more. This is a
choice coin with one of the best portraits of Caesar in existence.



Size: 3.49 grams; die axis = 10.0; flan 1.9 mm thick; 21.2 mm in diameter.

References: Sydenham 1073; Crawford 480/10, only 23 reverse dies; RSC 12;
Sear Coinage of Roman Imperators 107a; BMCRE 4169; Babelon Julia 48; Cohen
38; Sear Mill 1413.