Someone put a Hole in this Coin - now it's worth Millions (the EID MAR aureus)

YouTube ^ | May 27, 2022 | toldinstone

[SunkenCiv]

In this video, after discussing why certain ancient coins are worth millions, I meet the most valuable coin of all: the famous EID MAR aureus issued by Brutus to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar.

This video was made possible by the generosity of Numismatica Ars Classica, who very kindly allowed me to visit their London office and handle these coins. You can find out more about NAC and the coins displayed in this video here: https://www.arsclassicacoins.com/

Someone put a Hole in this Coin - now it's worth Millions (the EID MAR aureus)
May 27, 2022 | toldinstone

[SunkenCiv]

As was typical back then, the body was cremated, so there was no Julius Caesar burial per se. . The cremation was held in the Roman Forum. A funeral pyre was erected, and Marc Anthony led the proceedings. As he was cremated there is no tomb as such. People continue to leave flowers and other trinkets on the cremation site beside the ruins of the Temple of Caesar. -- Julius Caesar -- cremation site

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[SunkenCiv]

[Rebelbase]

My son has come clipped pieces of eight, chop marked Chinese coins and a few old silvers with holes drilled through them.

He also has an ancient Greek coin that is dated around 400 BC. Blows my mind thinking about how many transactions that thing went through and who was trading it and what they were buying.

[z3n]

Maybe Alexander the Great used it

[teeman8r]

how did they know to date the coin 400 bc

[Orosius]

Alexander the Great didn’t need to carry money. He had people for that.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Ha!

[Lazamataz]

He also has an ancient Greek coin that is dated around 400 BC.

If it says '400 BC' on the coin, you've been hustled.

[Robert DeLong]

They are usually dated by the image that appears on the coin. 🙂

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Not to worry. The dealer who I bought it from assured me it was minted by an ancestor of Nostradamus.

[bitt]

p

[irishjuggler]

Didn’t watch the video, but as I understand it, the theory is that the coin has a hole because it was worn as a pendant at some point. Definitely a rare one as Brutus & company were only minting them for a few months before Octavian came in and ordered the coins recalled and melted down.

[Gen.Blather]

” Blows my mind thinking about how many transactions that thing went through and who was trading it and what they were buying.”

Probably not as many as you’d think. One of the reasons we don’t see a lot of old coins is at some point in their existence the metal was worth more than the stated value and the coin was melted down and turned into something else. Usually in large batches. The reason we find these coins today is because they got “lost” or saved in a sock and forgotten. My Dad found a Roman coin on the ground while in Sweden in the seventies. Pretty sure at some point is was worth more as a metal arrow head than as a Roman coin.

[Rebelbase]

*groan*

[laplata]

Very interesting and informative video. Thanks.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[SunkenCiv]

I’m not a coin collector, but the ancient one that interests me is that of Lucius Aelius Sejanus — perhaps 20 of those survive, roughly one third have been reported in the past twenty years or so.

[Rebelbase]

Years ago a friend paid around $1300 for one of these.

Sometime later a hoard of around 30,000 of them was discovered and the price dropped to around $800 and today I think it's close to $900.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, the continuous use of coins is the reason so many of them still exist. Coins went from hand to hand to hand, and given that populations were smaller then, it’s not unlikely that the ancient coin was literally touched by one of your ancestors. There’s no way to know of course.

There are probably coins and other valuable items on all or most deep sea ancient wrecks, conveniently concealed in a pottery jar, jug, or pot with a lid.

[SunkenCiv]

Looks like a coin of Athens?