Doug said: "The only tax-referencing coin I am aware of is the RCC quadrans of Caligula honoring his repeal of a 1/200th tax." How about the sestertius of Nerva cancelling the tax on vehicles traveling on Roman roads?: https://blogs.baylor.edu/researchtracks/files/2014/03/vehiculatione-pafcnb.jpg I think there might be others, but can't pull them out of my memory at the moment.
Antoninus Pius has a series in bronze marking his remission of half the aurum coronarium (gold crown) tax levied on the provinces at the time of his elevation. The reverses show the personifications of various provinces such as Asia, Syria, Africa and Cappadocia holding up a crown. Unfortunately, I don't have one of them to show... I believe they are quite scarce.
I had forgotten the Nerva but it is a fine example. I am not aware of the Pius. The quickest of research shows a figure of a province holding a crown but no legend or activity to suggest why the type was issued. Is that it?
Its a different kind of collecting. The subject matter is endless, but to really get the best rewards from it you have to be interested in history, geography, mythology, etc. We are not Date/MM collectors obsessed with filling holes, we are collectors who pursue knowledge almost above the coins themselves.
History and geography would be the reason I bought any ancient coin. I only three the denarius I mentioned and lepton mites. I would really have to get advice and confirmation the coin was authentic before purchasing it. I am more interested in coins from the time of Jesus, but would not be apposed to others with a back story the kids would find interesting.
Until you feel comfortable you can post coins here for confirmation. The problem does not exist with normal members here, but lurkers who may just try to buy whatever you show out from under you. You can always send personal messages to any of us, and we will be more than happy to give you our opinions.
That would be the group... RIC makes mention of them. Yes, there's actually no legend to indicate why they were issued, but they're dated to AD 139 and I suppose the crown suggests a link to the aurum coronarium. At the same time, I believe that evidence for A-Pi's remission of the tax comes from the Historia Augusta, and I can't remember if that is generally thought to be reliable source for his reign.
MK, You can always go Byzantine, 900 AD. to 1000 AD. they hammered a anonymous coin of Christ.to have a coin minted during Jesus time on Earth is awesome, to have one with him on the coin, priceless!!! Bronze.. Silvered cup coin.. Gold..
Looks like a Michael VII to me at first glance. In that shape, those run around $250 or so. Its a good point about Byzantines and Christ portraits if you like Christian symbolism. I did a presentation on Anonymous Bronzes for my ancient coin club. ALl have portraits of Christ on the obverse. Here is a link to the paper: http://home.comcast.net/~wdaehn/TCACC/OtherDocs/AnonByzBronze.pdf
Sorry for bumping this thread up, but I just discovered it. I always wondered why the Tiberius denarius of Livia was called the tribute penny when there is no way at all from the Bible to tell what the coin was. Could have been any denarius of Augustus or Tiberius, or even a drachm or tet from the provinces....and maybe even a bronze issue instead of silver. You can tell the Bible wasn't written by numismatists. If I had written that chapter I would have included a full description of the obverse and reverse, including the legend on the coin. Hey, that's the type of stuff the faithful want to know. My version would have read..."Who's portrait is on this denarius of Tiberius with a seated Livia on the reverse and the inscription Imp....." or "Drachm of Augustus with....." or whatever coin it was. The same goes for any time any reference to coins was made in the old and new testaments...full attributions to the type of coin used. Oh well, too bad I don't have a time machine to fix that small oversight in the Bible.
This paper argues by using Biblical exegetical methods that it not possible to establish that Jesus even USED a coin to illustrate the point of his parable, much less what coin it might have been: http://forumancientcoins.com/Articles/No_Tribute_Penny.htm
