ROMAN REPUBLICAN. Q. Servilius Caepio (M. Junius) Brutus. 54 B.C. AR denarius. 4.06 gm. 20 mm. Rome mint. Head of Libertas right, adorned with earring and necklace; LIBERTAS behind / The consul L. Junius Brutus walking left between two lictors, each carrying fasces, preceded by an accensus; BRVTVS in exergue. Crawford 433/1. Sydenham 906. RSC Junia 31. Good Very Fine; lovely style, beautifully toned, struck well centered on a broad flan; small banker's mark on obverse, cheek; some scattered minor deposits and die rust; small area of weak strike on reverse.

Ex The New York Public Library Collection (Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, October 30, 1982), lot 4064.

This coin was struck a decade before the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Brutus used the reverse type to illustrate his republican views, while "libertas" was reportedly the password he used to signal his fellow conspirators ten years later.