Our spotlighting of beautiful Roman Aurei from the upcoming Stack’s Bowers
Galleries August ANA World’s Fair of Money continues with a gorgeous piece from
history’s most famous Roman: Julius Caesar. At the conclusion of 13 years of
war during which he conquered his myriad foes, Julius Caesar returned to Rome
to celebrate his long overdue triumph. Four days reflected his conquests, one
each for Gaul, Ptolemy XIII of Egypt, Pharnaces at Pontus and finally the
defeat of Juba of North Africa. It is notable that the Romans did not formally
celebrate the civil war, despite that being the true intention of Caesar’s
expedition to Egypt and North Africa. The triumphal celebrations also meant
that the bill for the wars came due, and Caesar had to pay his legionaries and
centurions. To facilitate this mass payment a stylistically basic and hurried
Aureus design was devised. The generic female head on the obverse is sometimes
described as either Vesta (virgin goddess of the hearth and family) or Pietas
(devotion, loyalty and duty, of a religious nature). The reverse design
illustrates and enforces Julius Caesar’s position as Pontifex Maximus, the
religious leader of the Romans. This example is particularly appealing, with a
well centered strike and choice eye appeal. Necessity forced the simplistic
design and large mintage of this issue, and thankfully many specimens have
survived for collectors to enjoy today.
While we are no longer accepting consignments for our August 2017 ANA
Auction, we are still accepting consignments of Chinese and other Asian coins
and currency for our August 2017 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. In addition to
this, we are currently taking consignments of world and ancient coins as well
as world paper money for our October 2017 Collectors Choice Online Auction and
the January 2018 New York International Auction. Time is running short, so if
you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a whole
collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment
directors.
