A rare Roman coin featuring the portrait of Brutus, who assassinated statesman Julius Caesar, was sold for €1.98 million on Monday at a Geneva auction organised by Numismatica Genevensis.
The historic piece was purchased by a European collector after intense bidding among eight online participants, fetching over 1.83 million Swiss francs ($2.09 million), according to the auction house.
Initially priced at over €800,000, the coin weighed eight grams and matched the size of a euro. Frank Baldacci, director of Numismatica Genevensis, described it as "a piece of history" marking the final chapters of the Roman Republic.
Minted in 43-42 BC by Brutus and his supporters following Caesar's assassination in March 44 BC, the coin's obverse displays Brutus' profile surrounded by a laurel wreath, while its reverse depicts war symbols commemorating military victories. Baldacci explained that the laurel wreath signified Brutus' ambitions to position himself as an emperor, serving as a propaganda tool.
One of only 17 known artefacts of its kind, the coin re-emerged in the 1950s in a private collector's catalogue and later appeared in a 2006 Zurich auction, where it sold for 360,000 Swiss francs.
