During the reign of Tiberius

[Ten-Speed]

Here is a new coin I just received of Tiberius, who is mentioned in the New Testament. With coins from these early years of Christianity, I wonder where the coin had been and who may have touched it. The obverse is Tiberius. The reverse is the Altar of Lugdunum and its sanctuaries. The altar was engraved with the names of 60 Gallic tribes. The altar was prominently displayed on coins from the Lugdunum Mint for many years.

I would be interested in seeing your coins of Tiberius.

 

 

[AETHER]

Nice example. I had one like this. I like your portrait and patina.

Here is a Tiberius Drachm I have.

 

[expat]

I have an altar of Lugdunum but with Augustus and a Tiberius obverse with his Mother, Livia on the reverse

[CPK]

19 minutes ago, Ten-Speed said:

Here is a new coin I just received of Tiberius, who is mentioned in the New Testament. With coins from these early years of Christianity, I wonder where the coin had been and who may have touched it. The obverse is Tiberius. The reverse is the Altar of Lugdunum and its sanctuaries. The altar was engraved with the names of 60 Gallic tribes. The altar was prominently displayed on coins from the Lugdunum Mint for many years.

I would be interested in seeing your coins of Tiberius.

 

 

Nice coin! Is it an as? Looks like it's in pretty good condition - I'd love to see some better photos!

[Ten-Speed]

It's half an As--it's a bronze semis.

I wish I had a way to make the photos better but I have to work with what I have, which is the camera on my laptop. The photo I took does not do justice to the beautiful apple  patina. Maybe I can figure out a way to take better pictures inexpensively--do you have any ideas? Thanks. 

Edited August 17 by Ten-Speed

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

My coin photographs were notoriously bad, but the soup can method worked decently for me.  I put the coin on a little riser like a coin capsule.  Situate a soup can (like the condensed soup) appropriately and put the camera phone on top of the soup can, lining up the shot of the coin-on-riser below.  I use the 'pro' (raw) mode on my Note 20.  The results are passable until I can figure out something else.

Edited August 17 by Nerosmyfavorite68

[Ten-Speed]

3 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

My coin photographs were notoriously bad, but the soup can method worked decently for me.  I put the coin on a little riser like a coin capsule.  Situate a soup can (like the condensed soup) appropriately and put the camera phone on top.  I use the 'pro' (raw) mode on my Note 20.  The results are passable until I can figure out something else.

This sounds like an ingenious method. I'm afraid to use my phone for security reasons, if I lose it someone could follow the breadcrumbs to where I am....l

[Phil Anthos]

9 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

My coin photographs were notoriously bad, but the soup can method worked decently for me.  I put the coin on a little riser like a coin capsule.  Situate a soup can (like the condensed soup) appropriately and put the camera phone on top of the soup can, lining up the shot of the coin-on-riser below.  I use the 'pro' (raw) mode on my Note 20.  The results are passable until I can figure out something else.

How do you light it, just the flash?

I usually balance my phone over the edge of some books out on my porch so I can still get natural light. I could buy a better camera if I passed on a coin, but then I'd have one less coin!

~ Peter 

[John Conduitt]

I only have one, rather customary coin of his.

Tiberius Denarius, 14-37

Lugdunum. Silver, 19x18mm, 3.64g. Head of Tiberius, laureate, right; TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Female figure (Livia as Pax), draped, right, seated, right on chair with plain legs, holding branch and long sceptre; below chair, a double line; PONTIF MAXIM (RIC I.2, 26). From the South Norfolk Hoard 2014 (image 44).

[hotwheelsearl]

Your best bet for better photos is to take them from farther away and then crop. Blurry photos from too close are worse than pixelated photos from far away

[hotwheelsearl]

Here’s a random photo straight from my iPhone. 

I used a $7 jewelry loupe and the phone camera, hand held. My iPhone (SE 2022) allows you to remove the background natively. 
 

the cheap loupe has a bunch of coronal falloff but it works well for the price 

[Edessa]

Roman Spain, Illici. Tiberius. AD 14-37. Æ Semis (22mm, 6.61g, 6h). M. Julius Settal and L. Sestius Celer (duovirs). Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVG P M; Bare head left. Rev: C/I/I/A around Altar, M IVL SETTAL L SESTI CELER II VIR; Altar inscribed SAL/AVG. Ref: ACIP 3208; RPC I 197. Very Fine, excellent brown patina, edge split. Ex Herakles Numismatics, Feb 2022.

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

Tiberius doesn’t have the reputation of the best emperor. But this one was issued to commemorate Tiberius' assistance to the city of Magnesia ad Sipylum fallowing its destruction in the great earthquake of 17 AD in Lydia. Up to 15 towns and cities were destroyed or badly damaged. He agreed to waive all taxes due for a period of 5 years. He further sent 10 millions Sestertii to assess their needs. Not too bad for a bad guy.

[hotwheelsearl]

10 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Tiberius doesn’t have the reputation of the best emperor. But this one was issued to commemorate Tiberius' assistance to the city of Magnesia ad Sipylum fallowing its destruction in the great earthquake of 17 AD in Lydia. Up to 15 towns and cities were destroyed or badly damaged. He agreed to waive all taxes due for a period of 5 years. He further sent 10 millions Sestertii to assess their needs. Not too bad for a bad guy.

But he DID have a really cool grotto, so by association this guy was awesome

[Phil Anthos]

1 hour ago, hotwheelsearl said:

But he DID have a really cool grotto, so by association this guy was awesome

And Helen Mirren for a daughter-in-law.  😛

Edited August 18 by Phil Anthos

[TIF]

Looks like a great coin, @Ten-Speed!  I'd love to see better pictures.  The Altar of Lugdunum reverse is a terrific choice.

My only Tiberius Imperial is a "Tribute Penny".  Seems like every ancient coin collection should have the type, but the higher price of such a common coin due to the dubious Biblical association was really annoying, so I compromised by getting one of the worst examples out there.  Its ugliness is completely offset by the coolness of its provenance-- to the ground.  It's my only known find spot coin 😀.


Tiberius, CE 16-37
AR denarius, 20 mm, 3.46 gm
Obv: laureate head of Tiberius right
Rev:
Livia, as Pax, seated right, holding scepter and olive branch
Ref: RCV 1763 (I have not yet tried to confirm catalog numbers)
Found Quidenham hoard, Norfolk, 2014; purchased from Chris Rudd 26 July 2018

Portable Antiquities Scheme, record ID NMS-480CEE, coin #21
 

Edited August 18 by TIF

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

1 hour ago, TIF said:

It's my only known find spot coin 😀.

Hi @TIF  It’s a nice ugly coin ! Did you know that Andrew Short [orfew] used to own the # 22 coin from the same hoard ? It is also a tribute penny, 18 mm and 3.48 g. He sold it in one of @Severus Alexander auction’s a few years ago.

Edited August 19 by Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

[TIF]

8 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Hi @TIF  It’s a nice ugly coin ! Did you know that Andrew Short [orfew] used to own the # 22 coin from the same hoard ? It is also a tribute penny, 18 mm and 3.48 g. He sold it in one of @Severus Alexander auction’s a few years ago.

Yes, I did!  Several of the "old gang" grabbed them around the same time.  I was a little late to the party and there weren't many left to choose from.  I liked Andrew's better 😛😄.  Glad to see that it stayed in the family :).

[Furryfrog02]

Cool coin @Ten-Speed! I'd love to see clearer pictures, especially of the reverse.

Sadly, I don't own any coins of Tiberius so I'm not able to share with the class. 😞

[MrMonkeySwag96]

[Alegandron]

Tiberius


RI Tiberius AE As 14-37 CE Laureate-Pont Max Globe Rudder sinister left RIC I 58

[Alegandron]

TIBERIUS / PONTIUS PILATE



Judaea Pontius Pilate 14-37 CE - Prutah TIBEPIOY KAICAPOC Lituus Hendin 1342



Judaea Pontius Pilate - Prutah Julia - IOYLIA KAICAPOC Julia Caesar - LIVIA wife of Augustus 
Hendin 1341

[Alegandron]

Augustus As four countermarks 25-23 mm 9.8g TICA AVG probably for Tiberius Augustus CE14-37 Dolphin

[AETHER]

4 hours ago, TIF said:

so I compromised by getting one of the worst examples out there

I raise...

But $129 is a price I was happy to pay.

[DonnaML]

Not counting coins issued by Tiberius that don't depict him, I have five Tiberius coins -- two Imperials and three Provincials.

Tiberius AR Denarius, 18-35 AD, Lugdunum (Lyons) Mint, “Tribute Penny.” Obv. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG AVGVSTVS, Laureate head right/ Rev. PONTIF MAXIM, Livia [Tiberius’s mother], as Pax*, holding long sceptre & olive branch, seated right on throne with ornate legs, her feet resting on low footstool, single line below.  RIC I 30, RSC II 16a, Sear RCV I 1763, Giard Lyon, group 4, 150 [Jean Baptist Giard, Le Monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon (Wetteren, 1983)] [see https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=tribute penny].  19 mm., 3.82 g.  Purchased from Kirk Davis (ex Kirk Davis, Cat # 72, Fall 2018, Lot 80); ex Tom Cederlind Sale 86 (1989), Lot 305; ex JMB collection.

Tiberius, AE As, 15-16 AD, Rome Mint [bronze equivalent of “Tribute Penny” design]. Obv. Bare head right, TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVST[VS?] IMP VII / Rev. Draped female figure [Tiberius’s mother Livia, or Livia as Pax or Justitia]* seated right, head covered, with feet on stool, holding long sceptre with left hand and patera with extended right hand, PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POTEST XVII, S-C across fields. RIC I Tiberius 33 if AVGVST [listed as “R3”; see p. 96] or RIC 35 if AVGVSTVS [listed as R2]; BMCRE I Tiberius 65 [or 66 if AVGVSTVS]; cf. Sear RCV I 1769 (var. with Tiberius facing left). 28 mm., 10.9 g. Purchased from Felicitas.Perpetua Numismatics, UK, July 2021.

* [Fn applies to both denarius and as] See RIC I Tiberius, Introduction at p. 87: “As a type, the ‘Pontif. Maxim.’ design was far from informative. Modern scholars are not agreed upon its interpretation, some regarding the seated female figure as Livia in the guise of Pax, some as Pax-Justitia, some simply as the priestess Livia, revered as the wife of the first imperial pontifex maximus and the stepmother of the second. Its significance in the ancient world can hardly have been much more immediate than it is to the modern, and it was probably viewed as a type suggesting (in association with the legend) nothing more definite than sanctity.”

Tiberius, AE Obol, Year 5 (AD 18/19), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Bare head of Tiberius right (anepigraphic) / Rev. Hippopotamus standing right; ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΥ above; in exergue, LE (Year 5). 20 mm., 4.34 g. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. I 5082 (1992); RPC I Online at  https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/5082 ; Emmett 62.5 at p. 9 corr. (hippo stands right, not left as stated in Emmett) [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; BMC 16 Alexandria 57-58 at p. 7 [Poole, Reginald Stuart, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 16, Alexandria (London, 1892)]; K & G 5.10 (ill. p. 47) [Kampmann, Ursula & Ganschow, Thomas, Die Münzen der römischen Münzstätte Alexandria  (2008)]; Milne 36 at p. 2 [Milne, J.G., Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (Oxford 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay, 1971)]; Dattari (1901 ed.) 101 at p. 6 [Dattari, Giovanni, Monete imperiali greche, Numi Augg. Alexandrini, Catalogo della collezione (Cairo 1901)]; SNG France 4, Alexandrie I 98-101 (ill. Pl. 7) [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, France Vol. 4, Alexandrie I, Auguste-Trajan (Zurich 1998)]; Sear RCV I 1777 (ill. p. 349) (identified as hemiobol). (15 specimens in ACSearch; 23 in RPC.) Purchased from Naville Numismatics Ltd., Mayfair, London, UK, Auction 88, 7 April 2024, Lot 196.

Tiberius and Divus Augustus, Billon Tetradrachm [RPC: 31.5% silver], Year 7 (AD 20/21), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Tiberius right, ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ around beginning at 7 o’clock, LZ [Year 7] under chin in lower right field / Rev. Radiate head of Augustus right, ΘΕΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ around beginning at 7 o’clock. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. I  5089 (1992); RPC I Online at  https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/5089 ; Emmett 60.7 (obv. ill p. 8 ) [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; BMC 16 Alexandria 36 at p. 6 [Poole, Reginald Stuart, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 16, Alexandria (London, 1892)]; K & G 5.10 (ill. p. 47) [Kampmann, Ursula & Ganschow, Thomas, Die Münzen der römischen Münzstätte Alexandria  (2008)]; Milne 38 [Milne, J.G., Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (Oxford 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay, 1971)]; Dattari (Savio) 78 [Savio, A. ed., Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari Numi Augg. Alexandrini (Trieste, 2007)]; SNG France 4, Alexandrie I 03-105 (ill. Pl. 7) [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, France Vol. 4, Alexandrie I, Auguste-Trajan (Zurich 1998)]; Curtis 1 at p. 1 [James W. Curtis, The Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt (1969)]; Sear RCV I 1774 (ill. p. 349). 25 mm., 12.96 g. Purchased from Kölner Münzkabinett, Tyll Kroha Nachfolger GmbH, Köln, Germany, Auction 119, 6 Oct. 2023, Lot 97.

Tiberius, AE As, 14-37 AD, Hispania Tarraconensis, Turiaso Mint [now Tarazona, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain], M. Pont. Marsus and C. Mari. Vegetus, duoviri. Obv. Laureate head right, TI CAESAR AVG F IMP PONT M / Rev. Bull standing right, head facing, M PONT MARSO; MVN TVR in field above bull, C MARI VEGETO below, II VIR in right field [ligate letters underlined]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. I 418 (1992); RPC I Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/418; ACIP 3291a [Villaronga, L. & J. Benages, Ancient Coinage of the Iberian Peninsula: Greek / Punic / Iberian / Roman, Societat Catalana D 'Estudis Numismatics, Institut D 'Estudis Catalans (Barcelona, 2011)]; FAB 2450 [Alvarez-Burgos, F., La Moneda Hispanica desde sus origines hasta el Siglo V (Madrid, 2008)]; SNG Copenhagen 606 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 43, Spain-Gaul (Copenhagen 1979), Parts 40-43 reprinted as one volume, 1994]. 28 mm., 11.98 g. Purchased from Tom Vossen, Netherlands, May 2021; ex Aureo & Calico, Auction 364, 21 April 2021, Lot 1202. *

* Turiaso was "a municipium of Hispania Tarraconensis, now Tarazona, situated on a small river that runs into the Ebro, to the south of Tudela." https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Turiaso (quoting Stevenson's Dictionary of Roman Coins (1880)). See also https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x51280 ("Located in the hinterland of NE Spain close to the Ebro river valley, c. 60km north of the ancient site of Bilbilis Augusta, the Iberian settlement named Turiasu later became an important Roman city called Turiaso. Under Visigothic rule it was called Tirasona and is now called Tarazona").

Tarazona is now in Aragon in the north of Spain. Under the Roman Empire, it was part of Hispania Tarraconensis, the largest of the three provinces in Roman Spain, along with Hispania Baetica and Lusitania. Under the Republic, before Augustus's reorganization in 27 BCE, Turiaso was part of Hispania Citerior (Nearer Iberia, i.e., closer to Rome, as compared to Hispania Ulterior).

For a discussion of Turiaso's coinage, see the section entitled "Regio Turiasonensis Turiaso," in Sir George Francis Hill, "Notes on the ancient coinage of Hispania citerior" (Numismatic Notes and Monographs, American Numismatic Society 1931) at http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan86651. The article includes, among other things, a list of all the names of magistrates (duoviri) found on the coins of Augustus and Tiberius minted in Turiaso, and notes that "G. Marius Vegetus [named on my coin] appears both as aedile and as duumvir. Under Augustus, both asses and semisses were struck by duoviri, and the aediles do not seem to have issued coins. Under Tiberius, as usual, the duoviri strike the asses, the aediles the semisses; but who was responsible for the sestertii or dupondii does not appear."

As for the bull on the reverse, Kevin Butcher notes at p. 62 of Roman Provincial Coins, supra, that "A standing bull, probably connected with anniversaries commemorating the foundation of the various colonies, occurs at Caesaraugustus, Celsa, Calagurris, Cascantum, Ercavica, Graccurris, Turiaso, and Clunia." Oxen pulling a plow were certainly a common symbol of the foundation of colonies on Roman coins, so such an interpretation is not surprising, even though a plow is nowhere in sight! See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby 1990) at pp. 121-122 (entry for “Founder”), explaining that the Romans “inherited a custom from the Etruscans of defining the boundaries of a new city by marking them with a plough,” so that certain coins showing plowing can be interpreted as a reference to the founding of colonies.