Hardly any of his assassins survived him for more than three years, or died a natural death. They were all condemned, and they perished in various ways ---some by shipwreck, some in battle; some took their own lives with the self-same dagger with which they had impiously slain Caesar.

- Suetonius

Julius Caesar was a pivital figure in Roman history. Indeed, his rise to power and his slaying did much to end the last hope of the Republicans; and with his blood, ushered in the age of Empire. Ironically, one of the factors that led to his murder was that he dared to put his face on coins while he was living.   

This particular coin was an ancient forgery of silver plating and copper core. The dies however, were from the original, thus the style was correct. Only a small test cut on the obverse reveals the copper core within. The coin was issued by Anthony after Caesar's slaying to strengthen the idea that Antony was the true heir of Caesar. Mark Anthony was Caesar's right hand man, and he delivered the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech made famous by Shakespeare.  After the defeat of the Republicans, Mark Anothony, together with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra contested for Roman throne.  Octavian, later known as Augustus, defeated Anthony and Cleopatra to found the Empire that lasted for nearly 500 years.