Roma, 12.5.2012
Egregi Lettori,
premesso che la moneta sopra
citata fu battuta nel nome di Caracalla e non di
Antonino Pio, di seguito riporto gli elementi
significativi che ho potuto raccogliere sulla
moneta di fig. 1. Ho inserito in fig. 2, a titolo di
confronto, una moneta della serie Mister Day -
Parmalat, del tutto simile, che sei anni fa avevo avuto
modo di esaminare.
Denario1,
43-42 a.C., zecca itinerante, Crawford al n° 508/3
(pag. 518), Sydenham 1301 (pag. 203), indice di rarità
"(9)".
Descrizione sommaria:
D. Testa di Bruto2 a destra,
barbato; attorno, in alto, in senso orario BRVT IMP3;
attorno, in basso a sinistra, in senso antiorario, L PLAET CEST4.
Bordo perlinato.
R. Pileo tra due daghe; sotto EID MAR. Bordo
perlinato.
La ricerca nel web di monete di tipologia simile ha
prodotto i seguenti risultati:
- http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s1439.html
Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1367. Closing Date: Jun 08,
2005. BRUTUS. Late Summer-Autumn 42 BC. AR
Denarius (3.51 gm, 12h). Mint moving with Brutus
in northern Greece. L. Plaetorius Cestianus,
magistrate. Bidding Closed Estimate $50000 BRUTUS.
Late Summer-Autumn 42 BC. AR Denarius (3.51 gm,
12h). Mint moving with Brutus in northern Greece.
L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Bare head of
Brutus right / EID • MAR, pileus between two
daggers. Crawford 508/3; Cahn 22d (same dies); CRI
216; Sydenham 1301; RSC 15. EF, minor edge
crystallization. Rare and popular type. ($50,000)
Marcus Junius Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius
Brutus and Julius Caesar's former mistress,
Servilia. By 59 BC he acquired the alternative
name Quintus Caepio Brutus through adoption by his
uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio. Brought up by
Porcius Cato, he was educated in philosophy and
oratory and long retained a fierce hatred of his
natural father’s murderer, Pompey. He began his
political career in 58 BC by accompanying Cato to
Cyprus. As triumvir monetalis in about 54 BC he
issued coins illustrating his strong republican
views with Libertas and portraits of his ancestors
L. Junius Brutus (who overthrew Tarquinius
Superbus, the last Etruscan king of Rome) and
Servilius Ahala (the later fifth century BC
tyrannicide) (Crawford 433/1 and 2, respectively).
In 53 BC Brutus served in Cilicia as quaestor to
Appius Claudius Pulcher, whose successor, Cicero,
found that ‘the honourable Brutus’ was extracting
48 per cent interest on a loan to the city of
Salamis in Cyprus, contrary to the lex Gabinia.
Brutus, the principled student, stoic, and
Platonist who wrote a number of philosophical
treatises and poems, seems an unlikely
tyrannicide, quite dissimilar to the vehement
Cassius. Despite his hatred of Pompey, he followed
him in the Civil War of 49 BC against Caesar, but
after the former’s defeat at Pharsalus he sought
and was granted Caesar’s pardon. He proceeded to
enjoy Caesar’s favor and was appointed governor of
Gaul in 46 BC, praetor in 44 BC and consul
designate for 41 BC. Perhaps under the influence
of his second wife Porcia, Cato’s daughter, Brutus
joined the conspiracy against Caesar, becoming the
leader alongside Cassius. The reaction of the
populace in the aftermath of the Ides of March
compelled Brutus to leave Rome in April 44 BC. The
Senate’s resolution to declare him a ‘public
enemy’ on 28 November 44 BC was soon repealed and
in February 43 BC he was appointed governor of
Crete, the Balkan provinces and later Asia.
Suspecting the intentions of Antony and Octavian,
Brutus went to Macedonia and won the loyalty of
its governor, Hortensius, and there levied an army
and seized much of the funds prepared by Caesar
for his Parthian expedition. Successful against
the Bessi in Thrace, he was hailed imperator by
his troops, but after the establishment of the
triumvirate in November 43 BC he was outlawed
again and joined forces with Cassius at Sardes. In
the summer of 42 BC they marched through Macedonia
and in October met Octavian on the Via Egnatia
just outside Philippi and won the first battle.
Cassius, as his conservative coins show, remained
true to the old republican cause, while Brutus
followed the self-advertising line of Antony in
the new age of unashamed political propaganda and
struck coins displaying his own portrait. Brutus’
estrangement from Cassius was effectively complete
when this remarkably assertive coin was struck
extolling the pileus or cap of liberty (symbol of
the Dioscuri, saviors of Rome, and traditionally
given to slaves who had received their freedom)
between the daggers that executed Caesar. In the
ironic twist of fate, Brutus committed suicide
during the second battle at Philippi on 23 October
42 BC, using the dagger with which he assassinated
Caesar. This extraordinary type is one of the few
specific coin issues mentioned by a classical
author, Dio Cassius, Roman History 47. 25, 3:
“Brutus stamped upon the coins which were being
minted his own likeness and a cap and two daggers,
indicating by this and by the inscription that he
and Cassius had liberated the fatherland.” The
only securely identified portraits of Brutus occur
on coins inscribed with his name; all others,
whether on coins or other artifacts, are
identified based on the three issues inscribed
BRVTVS IMP (on aurei) or BRVT IMP (on denarii). A
careful study of Brutus’ portraits by S. Nodelman
segregates these inscribed portraits into three
main categories: a ‘baroque’ style portrait on the
aurei of Casca, a ‘neoclassical’ style on the
aurei of Costa, and a ‘realistic’ style on the
‘EID MAR’ denarii, which Nodelman describes as
“the soberest and most precise” of all.
- http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=2294
Source Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG
Auction 124 (16.03.2007) Lot 8483 ( «
| » ) Price 90000 EUR (~119792 USD)
Description RÖMISCHE MÜNZEN (ROMAN COINS)
IMPERATORISCHE PRÄGUNGEN M. Iunius Brutus.
AR-Denar, 42 v. Chr., Lagermünzstätte in
Kleinasien oder Nordgriechenland, L. Plaetorius
Cestianus; 3,59 g. Kopf des Brutus r., l. L. PLAET
CEST, oben BRVT, r. IMP//Pileus zwischen zwei
Dolchen, darunter EID MAR. Bab. 52; BMC 68; Crawf.
508/3; Sear 216; Syd. 1301. Von großer Seltenheit.
Prüfpunze auf dem Revers, sehr schönes Exemplar
mit feiner Tönung Exemplar der Auktion Leu 71,
Zürich 1997, Nr. 265 und der Auktion Münzen und
Medaillen AG 19, Basel 1959, Nr. 150. Diese wohl
berühmteste römische Münze ließ Brutus 42 v. Chr,
kurz vor der Schlacht von Philippi prägen. Der
Avers des Stückes zeigt das Porträt des
Caesarmörders Brutus, der Revers liefert die
Rechtfertigung seiner Bluttat vom 15. März 44 v.
Chr. Der Pileus, die Freiheitskappe,
charakterisiert den Mord an den Iden des Märzes
als einen patriotischen Akt zur Wiederherstellung
der Freiheit. Die Dolche sind einerseits die
Waffen der Caesarmörder, verweisen aber
andererseits durch die Verbindung mit dem Namen
Brutus auf den Schwur, den dessen Ahnherr L.
Iunius Brutus, der legendäre Gründer der Republik,
auf einen blutigen Dolch abgelegt haben soll. In
diesem Schwur verpflichtete sich der
Republikgründer dazu, die etruskischen Könige aus
Rom zu vertreiben. Der Caesarmord wird somit in
die Tradition eines gerechtfertigten
Tyrannenmordes gestellt. Diese Begründung des
Mordes ist freilich heuchlerisch, denn Brutus
handelte, indem er sein Porträt auf die Münze
setzen ließ, nicht anders als Caesar. Einer der
Gründe für den Mord war es unter anderem, daß
Caesar sein Porträt auf die Münzen setzen ließ -
dies galt als ein Anzeichen für die Bestrebung,
eine Monarchie zu errichten. Estimate: 30.000 EUR.
- http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/imp/brutus/RSC_0015.3-o.jpg
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/imp/brutus/RSC_0015.3-r.jpg
Cr-508/3, Syd-1301 (R9), [sothebys.amazon.com
Guarantee] C-15 (350 Fr.); Cahn,
sothebys.amazon.com] Quaderni ticinesi 1989, no.
10b, pl.II (this coin). Obv: BRVT IMP L PLAET CEST
Head o... read more Minimum Bid: $110,000.00 (No
Reserve) Estimate: (110000 - (In U.S. 150000)
Dollars) Closes In: Closed. Seller: hjbcoins See
more by this seller Number of 0 (starting Bids: bid:
$110,000.00) Description (guaranteed) Ides of March
Denarius, the Nelson Bunker Hunt specimen, 43-42 AD,
Cr-508/3, Syd-1301 (R9), C-15 (350 Fr.); Cahn,
Quaderni ticinesi 1989, no. 10b, pl.II (this coin).
Obv: BRVT IMP L PLAET CEST Head of Brutus r. Rx: EID
MAR Liberty cap and two daggers. Ex Sotheby's, New
York, 19 June 1990, N.B.Hunt, 119; Sternberg, 30
Nov. 1973, 10; Stack's, 20 Nov. 1967, H.P.
McCollough, 1032; and Naville Ars Classica XV, 1930,
Woodward, 1315. Also published in the Hunt
exhibition catqalogue, Wealth of the Ancient World,
no. 119. With this famous reverse type Brutus
commemorates his assassination of Julius Caesar on
the notorious Ides of March, 44 BC, and claims that
the deed was done to secure liberty for the Roman
people (the liberty cap). This sentiment does not
prevent him, however, from placing his own portrait
on the coin, like a Hellenistic monarch and like
Caesar himself shortly before his death! This coin
commemorates the most important single day event in
ancient history. There is barely a person living in
the Western world today who doesn't know the words
written by William Shakespeare, "Et Tu Brute" or the
words Eid Mar inscribed on the rx of this coin. The
fact that a man would commit a political murder and
put the date of that murder and the implements used
to do it on the rx of the coin between which is a
cap representing Liberty and freedom and on the
other side, his portrait and his name with the
inscription IMP or imperator is remarkable. On this
coin, he not only commemorates the act and the day
that he saved the Republic, but contradicts the
meaning and spirit of the rx of the coin by placing
his portrait on the obv and saluting himself as
emperor. Somewhat more than 50 of these remarkable
coins exist. The fact that far more than 50 people
would like to own one, along with the additional
fact that most of these coins are in museums, has
created the justifiable price structure that exists
today. Condition: This coin is nearly EF on the obv,
save a hairline scratch from in back of Brutus' head
to the tip of the T, which I noticed when I viewed
the coin in 1990 at the Hunt Sale. The rx has two
old hairlines above and to the left of the Liberty
cap, but is otherwise EF. With its pedigree, this is
one of the most famous of all the Eid Mar coins.
Additional Specifications Number of Items in Lot: 1
Weight: 3.72g.
- http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=4092
Source Leu Numismatik AG Auction 86 (05.05.2003)
Lot 725 ( « | » ) Price 90000
CHF (~67426 USD) Description THE REPUBLIC
Estimate: CHF 65.000.00 M. Iunius Brutus and L.
Plaetorius Cestianus. Denarius (Silver, 3.50 g 1),
mint traveling with Brutus and Cassius in northern
Greece, late summer-autumn 42. BRVT IMP L · PLAET
· CEST Bare head of Brutus to right. Rev. EID ·
MAR Pileus (cap of liberty) between two daggers.
Bab. (Junia) 52. B & S 36/3 (this coin). H.A.
Cahn, EIDibus MARtiis, QT 1989, p. 219, 19 a (this
coin). Cr. 508/3. Sear 216. Syd. 1301. Vagi 95.
Extremely rare. Good very fine. From the de
Guermantes collection, and from that of Madame
Paucker, Vinchon 7 April 1959, 158.This is very
possibly one of the most extraordinary coins
anyone can own. It bears a portrait of the most
famous of all assassins, and it commemorates the
murder of Julius Caesar, one of the most important
figures in Western history. As the late Herbert
Cahn points out in his fundamental article on the
subject (cited above), this coin has been prized
by collectors and scholars since the Renaissance
(it was copied for a medal commemorating the
murder of Alessandro de ‘ Medici in 1537 – see
Bargello 489), but it was also celebrated in
ancient times as well. Dio Cassius mentioned it in
the 3rd century, and its reverse was copied on a
denarius issued during the Civil Wars of 68-69
(RIC 24-25). Cahn identified 8 obverse dies that
were used for this issue (ours is Obverse C),
paired with 27 reverses: the original issue must
have been rather small, but the great rarity of
these coins today can be explained by their having
been recalled and melted down after Antony and
Octavian’s victory over the Republicans at
Philippi (in 1989 he was able to record a total of
56 pieces – of which 28 were in Museums – perhaps
no more than 65 exist today). No other coin has
such romance and history bound up with it, and no
other coin can instantly make whatever collection
contains it into a great one.
- http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=7671
Source A. Tkalec AG Auction February 2008
(29.02.2008) Lot 292 ( « | » )
Price 350000 CHF (~335281 USD) Description
COLLECTION OF ROMAN REPUBLICAN COINAGE M JUNIUS
BRUTUS AR-Denarius, 3,59 g. Mint moving with
Brutus. summer 42 Bc.. Obv.: L PLAET CEST / BRVT
IMP Head of Brutus r. Rev.: EID MAR Pileus between
two daggers. H. A. Cahn, EIDibus MARtiis, Quaderni
Ticinesi di Numismatica e Antichità Classiche 18,
1989, pp. 211-238, 25a (these dies); Crawford
508/3; Sydenham 1301; BMCRR East 68; RSC 15. *A
classical author, Dio Cassius Extremely rare and
the finest known specimen! FDC Beautiful tone.
Swiss private collection Note: Marcus Junius
Brutus assassin of Caesar, Ides of March 44 BC,
was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus and Julius
Caesar’s former mistress, Servilia. By 59 BC he
acquired the alternative name Quintus Caepio
Brutus through adoption by his uncle, Quintus
Servilius Caepio. Brought up by Portius Cato, he
was educated in philosophy and oratory and long
retained a fierce hatred of his natural father’s
murderer Pompey. He began his political career in
58 by accompanying Cato to Cyprus. As triumvir
monetalis in about 54 he issued coins illustrating
his strong republican views with Libertas and
portraits of his ancestors L. Junius Brutus --who
overthrew Tarquinius Superbus (the last Etruscan
king of Rome)-- and Servilius Ahala, the later 5th
century tyrannicide (Crawford 433/1 and 2). In 53
he served in Cilicia as quaestor to Appius
Claudius Pulcher, whose successor, Cicero, found
that ‘the honourable Brutus’ was extracting 48 per
cent interest on a loan to the city of Salamis in
Cyprus, contrary to the lex Gabinia. Brutus, the
principled student, stoic and Platonist who wrote
a number of philosophical treatises and poems,
seems an unlikely tyrannicide, quite dissimilar to
the vehement Cassius. Despite his hatred of
Pompey, he followed him in the Civil War of 49
against Caesar, but after the former’s defeat at
Pharsalus he sought and was granted Caesar’s
pardon. He proceeded to enjoy Caesar’s favour and
was appointed governor of Gaul in 46, praetor in
44 and consul designate for 41. Perhaps under the
influence of his second wife Porcia, Cato’s
daughter, Brutus joined the conspiracy against
Caesar, becoming the leader alongside Cassius. The
reaction of the populace in the aftermath of the
Ides of March compelled Brutus to leave Rome in
April 44. The Senate’s resolution to declare him a
‘public enemy’ on 28 November 44 was soon repealed
and in February 43 he was appointed governor of
Crete, the Balkan provinces and later Asia.
Suspecting the intentions of Antony and Octavian,
Brutus went to Macedonia and won the loyalty of
its governor, Hortensius, and there levied an army
and seized much of the funds prepared by Caesar
for his Parthian expedition. Successful against
the Bessi in Thrace, he was hailed imperator by
his troops, but after the establishment of the
triumvirate in November 43 he was outlawed again
and joined forces with Cassius at Sardes. In the
summer of 42 they marched through Macedonia and in
October met Octavian on the Via Egnatia just
outside Philippi and won the first battle.
Cassius, as his conservative coins show, remained
true to the old republican cause, while Brutus
followed the self-advertising line of Antony in
the new age of unashamed political propaganda and
struck coins displaying his own portrait. Brutus’
estrangement from Cassius was effectively complete
when this remarkably assertive coin was struck
extolling the pileus or cap of liberty (symbol of
the Dioscuri, saviours of Rome, and traditionally
given to slaves who had received their freedom)
between the daggers that executed Caesar. In the
end it was with his Caesar-murdering dagger that
Brutus committed suicide during the second battle
at Philippi on 23 October 42 BC. *This
extraordinary type is one of the few specific coin
issues mentioned by a classical author, Dio
Cassius, Roman History 47. 25, 3: "Brutus stamped
upon the coins which were being minted his own
likeness and a cap and two daggers, indicating by
this and by the inscription that he and Cassius
had liberated the fatherland.
Concludo osservando che il denario originale,
piuttosto raro, è prezioso perché è un vero e proprio
monumento storico. Le monete rappresentate nelle
figure sono invece delle riproduzioni moderne, in
particolare quella di fig. 2 fa parte di una serie
emessa, a partire dal novembre del 1983, in occasione
di una campagna
pubblicitaria per il lancio dei biscotti Mister
Day - Parmalat. Le
monete della serie recavano tutte una piccola
"R" nel rovescio, ad indicare che erano Repliche e non
monete autentiche. La moneta di figura 1, come pure la
moneta di Caracalla, sopra citata, sono state invece
verosimilmente ottenute mediante calchi ricavati dalle
Repliche di cui sopra; la prova è data dal maldestro
tentativo degli autori di cancellare la "R", tentativo
parzialmente riuscito con la moneta in esame e meno
con quella di Caracalla. Va da sé che, se l'analisi
sopra esposta è corretta, come io penso, le due monete
del lettore sono state trovate, non nel 1959/1960 ma
almeno una ventina di anni dopo.
Cordiali saluti.
Giulio De Florio
-------------------------------
Note:
(1) Denario
(argento). Raccolgo in tabella le caratteristiche
fisiche dei denari di Marco Giunio Bruto della
tipologia di figura tratte dai link
di cui sopra:
Riferimenti |
Peso
(g.) |
Diametro
(mm) |
Asse
di conio (h) |
Link1 |
3,51 |
- |
12 |
Link2 |
3,52 |
- |
- |
Link3 |
3,72 |
- |
- |
Link4 |
3,50 |
- |
1 |
Link5 |
3,59 |
- |
- |
Della sua moneta si sa solo che ha un diametro di
19-20mm. La moneta dell'altro
lettore (3,32g, 19-20 mm) presenta invece
caratteristiche fisiche sostanzialmente non
dissimili da quelle delle monete autentiche del
periodo.
(2) La moneta fu coniata in
Oriente, dove Marco Giunio Bruto e Caio Cassio
Longino, gli assassini di Cesare, erano andati ad
occupare, per nomina senatoriale, il posto di
governatori, rispettivamente della Macedonia e della
Siria, dopo una fuga precipitosa da Roma determinata
dall'esigenza di sfuggire alla vendetta dei
cesariani. I due si erano ricongiunti a Sardi, città
della Lidia (Turchia) ad Est dell'odierna Smirne e
lì si erano accordati per raccogliere truppe da
opporre, in nome degli ideali repubblicani, ad
Antonio e all'astro nascente della politica romana,
Ottaviano, erede designato di Cesare. Lì avevano
ricevuto dalle truppe l'acclamazione e con
l'approvazione del senato del diritto di fregiarsi
del titolo di "imperator", che veniva concesso ai
generali vittoriosi.
(3) BRVTus IMPerator. Il titolo
di "imperator" concesso a Bruto dopo l'acclamazione
delle truppe è cosa diversa da quello di
"imperatore" oggi utilizzato per indicare gli
"Augusti", i principi cioè o i governanti che si
succedettero nella Roma imperiale da Ottaviano in
poi. In epoca imperiale il titolo di imperator
veniva spesso conferito agli Augusti e aggiunto alla
loro titolatura per evidenziare le capacità militari
del principe. Ciò comporta che quando noi oggi
chiamiamo "imperatore" il principe attribuiamo
impropriamente all'aspetto militare del comando
maggiore importanza che alla funzione civile.
(4) Lucius PLAETorius CESTianus
è il magistrato monetale, al seguito di Bruto,
responsabile della zecca itinerante che batteva le
monete necessarie per pagare le truppe. La moneta in
questione, con lugubre simbolismo, recava sul dritto
l'immagine di Bruto e sul rovescio il
pileo (il berretto simbolo della libertà) posto tra
due daghe, le armi con le quali i congiurati avevano
colpito Cesare nelle Idi di Marzo (EIDibus MARtii,
15 Marzo) del 44 a.C. Il messaggio della moneta è
trasparente: Bruto rivendicava a sé il regicidio e
la libertà riconquistata con la forza delle armi
(Brutus imperator). |