L LIVINEIUS REGULUS JULIUS CAESAR DENARIUS – SUPER SPECIMEN WITH OLD PEDIGREE TO 1927 RATTO FPL – CHOICE XF NGC GRADED ROMAN IMPERATORIAL PROVENANCED COIN OF THE 12 CAESARS (Inv. 21044)

$15,000.00

21044. ROMAN IMPERATORIAL. JULIUS CAESAR, d. 44 BC.
Silver Denarius, 3.97 g, 19 mm. Posthumous issue struck by L. Livineius Regulus at Rome, 42 BC.
Obv. Laureate head of Caesar right, laurel branch to left, winged caduceus at right. Rev. L L[IVINEI]VS REGVLVS, bull charging right.
Crawford 494/24; Sydenham 1106.
Ex Andrew McCabe Collection = ex NAC 152, 5/18/1925, lot 363, acquired from CNG 2010 as ex Prof. L. Fontana = ex Ratto Fixed Price List 1933–XI, lot 1000 = ex Baranowsky, 2/25/1931 (property from Valerio Traverso and Joseph Martini, and others), lot 1246 = ex Ratto Fixed Price List 1927, lot 586.
NGC graded CHOICE XF, Strike 3/5, Surface 5/5, the 1927 Ratto provenance mentioned on label, with a magnificent portrait of Julius Caesar, a masterwork of Roman portraiture.

A hyper veristic portrait of Julius Caesar appears on the obverse of this denarius, two years after his assassination, in order to fan public outrage against Brutus, Cassius, and the rest of Caesar’s killers, as they and the Caesarean triumvirs, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus marshaled their forces for the final showdown that came at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC. The charging bull on the reverse may refer to an incident that took place prior to Caesar’s victory over the Pompeians at the Battle of Thapsus (46 BC). According to Suetonius, before the battle, a sacrificial bull broke loose and escaped. Lesser men would have considered this an ill omen and refused to give battle, but Caesar simply ignored it and pressed on to crush the Pompeians. L. Livineius Regulus, the moneyer responsible for this issue, had served as praetor under Caesar during the African campaign that came to an end at Thapsus.