Category: Photography

This admittedly is not a great picture for I had no macro lens with me (at an undisclosed place in Frankfurt) when I was was shown this gold Aureus minted around 42 BC by Brutus, commemorating the assassination of Caesar.  On its reverse side there is the cap of liberty (pileus), traditionally given to one who has been freed from slavery, and two daggers, recalling Cassius and Brutus as the principal conspirators.
At the time, it was worth twenty-five denarii, the equivalent of a month’s pay for a Roman legionary. Today, the tiny coin might be worth 2 million euros (or dollars).