Check out my
denarius of
Julius Caesar issued by
Lucius Aemilius Buca. After emerging victorious in the Civil War and setting himself up as
Dictator for Life,
Caesar sponsored the creation of innumerable
denarii emblazoned with
his visage and political titles in preparation for an invasion of the
Parthian Empire. According to the historian Cassius Dio, this move was gravely offensive to traditional
Roman mores and was one of the proximate causes of
his assassination. A living
Roman’s
face had never before appeared on officially minted
denarii (though Greek
moneyers had incorporated such portraiture of
Romans since the time of Flaminius, and
posthumous portraits were sometimes also included on coins).
The reason I love this
extremely fine specimen is that the
portrait is sumptuously detailed and the devices on the
obverse are miraculously preserved. It is also well struck with nice
toning. The unusual coin was designed and released by
Lucius Buca, the most artful and subtly allusive of
Caesar’s
moneyers (
his “dream of
Sulla”
denarius still puzzles numismatists who struggle to interpret the imagery.) Here, we see the
fasces (a bundle of rods symbolizing the power of magistrates, curiously without an
axe) and a winged
caduceus (a magical wand associated with Mercury) “in saltire” (in a diagonal
cross). We also see a globe, a handshake, and an
axe. The exact message is obscure, but likely refers to
Caesar restoring concord and
harmony to the entire world (the handshake and the globe), exercising
his role as
Pontifex Maximus (the
axe), and bringing luck to the empire through
his oversight of the magistrates (the
caduceus and the
fasces). The
fasces in this specimen are especially well preserved, with the individual rods in the bundle able to be made out. I can’t wait for it to arrive, a great addition for my evolving
collection, and my nicest coin by far.