433/1 Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus. AR Denarius. Rome Mint, 54 B.C. (4.01g, 19.1m, 4h). Obv: LIBERTAS, head of Libertas r., hair in bun. Rev: BRVTVS in ex., consul Lucius Junius Brutus walking l., between two lictors, preceded by an accensus. Craw. 433/1, RCV 397.

Brutus, perhaps Caesar’s most famous assassin, shows his political leanings on this coin 10 years before the assassination. Lucius Junius Brutus, the first consul and founder of the Republic reportedly expelled the last Tarquin king from Rome in 509 B.C. This is referred to as “The coin that should have warned Caesar.”