Magnifico profilo. Testa piccola.
Wreathed head of Caesar right, behind crescent; before, CAESAR·IM downwards; behind P M upwards. Border of dots. As explained by http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/acans/caesar/Career_Coins.htm
it was struck just after Caesar's refusal of the crown at Lupercalia.
On the Lupercalia, let us read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia and https://www.etymonline.com/word/february
It is possible that the world Lupercalia derived from lupus, "wolf," though both the etymology and its significance are obscure [1]. Lupercalia was a very ancient, even pre-Roman pastoral , annual festival,[2] observed in Rome on February 15, to avert the evil spirits and purify the city. Lupercalia was also called "dies Februatus", purified (literally "februated day") after the fumes of purification (https://www.etymonline.com/word/february).
The Lupercalia had its own priesthood, the Luperci, whose institution and rites were attributed either to the Arcadian culture-hero Evander, or to Romulus and Remus. The Luperci were young men. They formed two religious collegia based on ancestry; the Quinctiliani (named after gens Quinctia) and the Fabiani (named after gens Fabia). Each college was headed by a magister. In 44 BC, a third college, the Juliani, was instituted in honor of Julius Caesar; its first magister was Mark Antony.[10] The college of Juliani disbanded during civil wars, and was not re-established in the reforms of Augustus.
Descriptions of the Lupercalia festival of 44 BC attest to its continuity. During this Lupercalia, Julius Caesar refused three times a golden crown offered to him by Mark Antony.[17][18]
