The coin was struck with the words EID MAR (short for
Eidibus Martiis – on the Ides of March) to commemorate the
assassination of
Julius Caesar on
March 15, 44 BC. The assassin Brutus appears on the coin's obverse with a bust of him, looking to the right. The reverse of the coin displays a pileus cap flanked by two daggers. EID MAR appears on the reverse below the daggers to commemorate the assassination of Caesar during the
Ides of March. The pileus cap was a Roman symbol of freedom, and was often worn by recently freed slaves. The daggers represent the weapons which were used to kill
Julius Caesar. The minting of the coins took place between 43 and 42 BC, coinciding with the
Liberators' civil war. The coins were struck by a "military mint" which traveled with Brutus. The coins were ordered by Brutus and produced by Lucius Plaetorius Cestianus, possibly to pay Brutus' army. The issuance of the coin suggests that the assassination was legitimized by the state, but it was not. The minting of the coin may also be a political statement or propaganda commissioned by the assassins of Caesar. An interpretation of the coin's symbols is that the Roman state was liberated from slavery with the assassination of Caesar. == Varieties ==