A rare gold coin that depicts the stabbing death of Julius Caesar was returned this week to Greece by investigators in New York, The New York Times has reported.
The NY officials had determined the coin, which is known as the “Eid Mar” and valued at $4.2 million, was looted and fraudulently put up for sale at auction in 2020.
According to the NY Times, the coin features the face of Marcus Junius Brutus who, along with other Roman senators, murdered him on the Ides of March in 44 BC.
Historians believe Brutus had the coins minted in gold and silver to applaud Caesar’s downfall. The gold coin is one of only three known to be in circulation.
The coin is one of 29 artifacts returned to Greek officials on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by officials of the Manhattan district attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and US Homeland Security Investigations, who cooperated on the fraud case.
NY officials said the British dealer who helped arrange the sale of the coin was arrested in January, and the coin itself was recovered in February.
Source: The New York Times.
