The Times - UK (2022-03-15)

the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 25

News

Caesar assassination

coin is worth a mint

‘L

end me your

ears,” Mark

Antony is

said to have

told the

Roman crowd after the

assassination of Julius

Caesar (David

Sanderson writes).

Perhaps he should

have asked for coins,

instead.

An Eid Mar (Ides of

March) coin minted by

Brutus to celebrate

Caesar’s assassination

on March 15, 44BC,

has been put up for

sale, and is expected to

fetch £1.5 million.

The rare gold coin

shows a portrait of

Brutus on the head,

while the reverse

shows two daggers

representing Brutus

and his co-conspirator,

Cassius. Rome’s

freedom from the

“tyranny of Caesar” is

shown by a “cap of

liberty”.

The coin, which is

due to be sold in

Zurich in May by its

private owner, has

been on long-term loan

to the British Museum.

Arturo Russo, of

Numismatica Ars

Classica, which is

selling the coin, said it

commemorated “one

of the most important

moments in western

history”.

He added: “It is

extremely rare to come

across an ancient coin

with such exceptional

provenance, a point

illustrated by its

inclusion in the British

Museum’s display for

over a decade.”

The auction house

said that coins of this

design in gold, rather

than silver, were very

rare and

would have

been

intended

as gifts for

senior

army

officers.

About 100

silver Eid Mar

coins have

been recovered

but only three gold

ones. One is owned

by the German Federal

Bank and another, in

mint condition, sold in

2020 for £3.2 million.

The previous record

for a Roman coin was

for a bronze sestertius

of Hadrian that sold

for 2.3 million Swiss

francs in 2008. The

record for any ancient

coin was $3.25 million

for a Greek gold stater

of the city of

Pantikapaion, which

was sold in 2012.

The Eid Mar coins

had been struck in

42BC, two years after

Caesar’s assassination,

by a military mint

travelling with Brutus,

Cassius and their

forces.

The gold Eid Mar

(Ides of March)

coin is expected to

make £1.5 million

at auction

b

b

An art collector at the centre of a family

feud was entitled to sell a £350,000

Damien Hirst painting, a judge has said,

but could face a large VAT bill.

Robert Tibbles has been ruled as the

owner of the painting after his twin

brother and 91-year-old father claimed

in the High Court that he had forged

documents to assert ownership.

The court was told that Tibbles was

involved in “litigation warfare” with his

Son wins Hirst painting feud

twin brother, Sebastian, and father,

Nigel. Claims have been issued in

courts in England, France and Monaco

which are mostly over a villa in France.

The dispute over Beautiful tropical,

jungle painting (with pink snot), began

after it was among 40 works sold in

London in 2020 by Tibbles.

When the painting was bought in

1999 the invoice was sent abroad, but

VAT was due because the picture did

not leave the UK. Tibbles said that he

would take a tax bill “on the chin”.

David Sanderson Arts Correspondent

Supreme Court

rejects Assange’s

extradition appeal

held in solitary confinement in a

“supermax” jail.

The ruling was overturned by the

High Court after the US gave assur-

ances that he would not be held in a

high-security jail and could serve any

prison sentence in his native Australia.

The Supreme Court had been asked

to consider in what circumstances an

appeal court could consider assurances

that were not available at the initial

hearing from a state requesting

extradition. The case will now be sent

back to Westminster magistrates’

court, which must refer the case direct-

ly to Patel for a final decision.

Birnberg Peirce solicitors, for As-

sange, said: “We regret that the oppor-

tunity has not been taken to consider

the troubling circumstances in which

requesting states can provide caveated

guarantees after the conclusion of a full

evidential hearing.

“In Mr Assange’s case, the court had

found that there was a real risk of

prohibited treatment in the event of his

onward extradition”

Assange spent seven years hiding in

the Ecuadorean embassy in London to

avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual

offence charges, which he claimed were

part of a plot to send him to the US. He

fathered two children with his lawyer,

Stella Moris, 37, and they have said they

will marry next week at Belmarsh

prison in southeast London, where he

has been held since he was evicted from

the embassy three years ago.

David Brown

Julian Assange’s attempt to avoid

extradition to the US was dealt a blow

as his latest appeal was rejected by the

Supreme Court yesterday.

The court refused Assange, 50, per-

mission to challenge the extradition

order on the grounds that he is at risk of

suicide. The judges ruled that the appli-

cation did not raise “an arguable point

of law”.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, will be

asked to authorise the WikiLeaks

founder’s extradition to face trial on

charges of espionage and hacking.

Assange’s legal team said they were

preparing to bring challenges on

different grounds, including that he was

the victim of a politically motivated

prosecution. He is wanted on 18 charges

after the publication in 2010 and 2011 of

leaked documents relating to the wars

in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as

diplomatic cables.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled in Jan-

uary last year that Assange should not

be sent to the US because he was at risk

of suicide after being told he could be

Julian Assange is

at risk of suicide,

his lawyers say