I have in my hand the most valuable ancient coin in existence: the famous EID MAR aureus
issued by Brutus to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar.
This video will consider why this coin is worth millions, and why other ancient coins
achieve such high prices.
Most ancient coins are surprisingly affordable.
One dollar, for example, will buy a decent uncleaned Roman coin.
Ten dollars can get you a late Roman bronze in good condition.
For less than one hundred dollars, you can buy almost any common coin, including many
Roman denarii.
For one thousand dollars, you can purchase a nice golden aureus.
Ten thousand dollars will buy almost anything, even a rare sestertius in excellent condition.
One hundred thousand will buy a masterpiece, like one of the famous dekadrachms of Syracuse.
And there are a few coins that sell for millions.
These exceptional coins owe their value to a combination of factors, the most important
of which is rarity.
The first factor driving value is rarity.
This is a legionary denarius issue by Mark Antony in the year before the Actium campaign.
Antony issued literally millions of these coins to pay his troops; and as a result,
even one in exceptional condition – as this one is – is only worth, at most, a couple
thousand dollars.
Not pocket change – but, in the stratosphere of ancient coin collecting, nothing very special.
Now compare this aureus with the same design.
There are only two known examples of the coin I have in my hand; and this one will sell
– in a few weeks – for quite possibly six figures.
Rarity, driving value.
Rarity alone, however, is no guarantee of value.
The coin must also be desirable for its intrinsic qualities - most often, its beauty.
Thanks to spectacular artistry and perfect preservation, for example, the sestertius
of Hadrian pictured here once held the record for the most valuable Roman coin ever auctioned.
Another factor driving a coin’s value is its beauty.
This is a tetradrachm of Naxos.
It’s not an exceptionally rare coin, but it is an incredibly beautiful one, with this
very realistic classical portrait of Dionysus on the obverse.
The reverse, with Silenus and his impressively realistic musculature, is equally impressive.
This coin will sell for six figures at the end of this month, because its beauty has
drawn generations of collectors.
When beauty is combined with rarity, prices rise correspondingly.
This is a tetradrachm of Agrigentum, or Akragas, an important Greek city in Sicily.
Its coins are famous for their beauty, and for featuring – as in this case – on the
obverse, the eagle of Zeus, often in splendid detail.
This coin, however, almost uniquely, features on its reverse three marine creatures: a fish,
a small shellfish, and a crab.
The loving detail of these marine creatures is almost unique in Greek coinage, and ensures
that this coin – which is, again, extremely rare – achieves astronomical prices when
it comes to auction.
This is another coin from Akragas, a dekadrachm now on display in the British Museum.
In 2012, the twin of this beautiful and extremely rare coin sold for nearly three million dollars.
Before its sale, that coin had belonged to Nelson Bunker Hunt, an American billionaire
who assembled a massive collection of Greek coins as an investment.
Although the scale of Hunt’s coin collection was unique, many of the world’s wealthiest
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Beyond aesthetics, the essence of an ancient coin’s appeal is the simple fact of its
antiquity.
An ancient coin is a direct connection to the classical world – to all its grandeur
and its squalor, to its famous figures, and to the countless unremembered lives outside
the histories.
The most famous example of historical significance driving value – in fact, the most famous
of all ancient coins – is the EID MAR denarius, issued by Brutus in the months before his
defeat at Philippi.
Brutus had, of course, led the conspirators who assassinated Julius Caesar, and he commemorated
that event on the reverse of this coin – more on that in a moment.
With over 100 examples still extant, the EID MAR denarius is not one of the rarest ancient
coins.
But it is one of the most expensive, since every collector wants one.
Specimens in excellent condition sell for a half-million dollars, and prices continue
to rise.
Alongside the EID MAR denarius, Brutus issued a gold coin – an aureus – with the same
design, probably for distribution to high-ranking officers in his legions.
Always rare, it is now known from only three examples.
Let’s take a look at one of them.
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the EID MAR aureus.
There are, as far as we know, three in existence.
There’s one in a museum in Germany.
One sold two years ago for four million dollars.
And there’s this one, which until recently was displayed in the British Museum.
On the famous reverse, pictured here, we see two daggers and EID MAR – the ides of March.
In the middle is a freedman’s cap, symbolizing liberty.
Brutus, in other words, is commemorating the death of Caesar.
On the obverse – the front – is Brutus himself.
This was sort of a taboo until Caesar broke it – putting a living person on the front
of a coin – but Brutus knew good publicity when he saw it, and here we are.
Another famous feature of this coin is the hole punched in the top.
This coin was worn at some point in its history – probably early in its history – by someone
who treasured it, someone who wanted to keep it close to his heart (quite literally).
And the thought is that it probably a supporter of Brutus, perhaps one of the conspirators
themselves, who wore this coin – perhaps for years – after the defeat of Brutus,
and the rise of Caesar’s great-nephew Octavian to the emperor Augustus.
The value of this coin derives from its rarity – there are, as I said, three examples – and
from its sheer recognizability.
Every person, whether they’re a collector of coins or not, knows the Ides of March;
and this coin’s direct connection to that moment makes it unique, and makes it extremely
valuable.
The prices paid for rare coins at auctions fluctuate with supply, demand, trends in the
market, and the interests of individual buyers.
But when the EID MAR aureus is sold, a few days after the release of this video, I have
no doubt that the hammer price will be well over a million dollars.
Having never spent more than fifty dollars on a coin myself, it’s hard for me to imagine
prices on that scale.
But I think I understand the impulse behind them.
For every collector of ancient coins, as I mentioned earlier, the ultimate fascination
is the idea of possessing a direct connection in the ancient world, something you can touch,
and through it, touch every hand that held it before.
Every ancient coin has a story.
And now, having had the privilege of holding the EID MAR myself, and sharing it with you,
I feel that I’ve made toldinstone a footnote in that coin’s long journey from antiquity.
This video was made possible by the generous assistance of Numismatica Ars Classica (NAC),
who allowed me to visit their London office and trusted me to handle these wonderful coins.
NAC will auction the coins featured here at Zurich on May 30 and 31; in case you want
to check the prices realized, I’ve linked their website in the description.
If you enjoyed this video, please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon.
You might also enjoy my book, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants.
Thanks for watching.