Republic. M. Junius Brutus. Rome. 54 BC. AR Denarius (3.77g, 6h). Crawford 433.2; Sydenham 907. Old cabinet tone. A lovely coin with two superb portraits. Good very fine. From a private collection; Emile Bourgey 1994 (27 June) lot 51

A decade prior to his participation in the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus held the office of moneyer, producing an interesting coinage clearly illustrating his admiration for his ancestors who had distinguished themselves in the defense of liberty against the forces of the tyranny. The head of L. Junius Brutus thus recalls the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome and the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC, whilst that of Servilius Ahala commemorates the deeds of another ancestor who, as master of horse in 439 BC, saved the state by his assassination (already with a dagger...) of the traitor Spurius Maelius