On this coin, Julius Caesar breaks tradition of prohibiting the portraying of living individuals on Roman coins by showing his own portrait on it. It was considered a practice of Eastern Greek monarchs rather than the Republic that Rome was still supposed to be. This could have been seen as a clear sign of Julius Caesar styling himself after king issuing such a coin. This coin, along with other factors may have been what culminated in the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 B.C.
ROMAN IMPERATORIAL. JULIUS CAESAR, died 44 BC.
Silver Denarius, 3.90 g., 16 mm., struck by L. Mussidius Longus at Rome, 42 BC
Obv. Laureate head of Caesar right, within dotted border.
Rev. L• MVSSIDIVS • LONGVS, cornucopia on globe, rudder to left, winged caduceus and apex to right.
NGC graded CHOICE XF Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, attractive light gray purple toning and with a absolutely spectacular portrait of Julius Caesar.
With prominent historical figures, Julius Caesar has loomed large in the public imagination ever since he rose to unparalleled political power in the first century B.C. Virtually invincible on the battlefield, he led his usually outnumbered troops time after time to victory, and achieved their undying loyalty in the process. Normally not leading the forces from the front in the manner of Alexander the Great, he would charge to the forefront whenever he sensed his troops were in trouble – he would display unusual and sometimes reckless courage on the battlefield, often in the face overwhelming odds.
His political and military alliances were also the stuff of lore – from alliances to rivalry with Pompey, conquering Gaul and vanquishing rivals with battlefield successes at Pharsalus and all around the Mediterranean - with his meeting and subsequent love affair with Cleopatra in Egypt, and his assassination by rivals on the Ides of March - in the words of Shakespeare’s Antony, Caesar became “the noblest Roman of them all” - one for the ages.