SIX CAESARS OF THE TRIBUTE PENNY by Michael E. Marotta Sellers of ancient coins push out Roman denarii struck by Tiberius on the theory that these are the “tribute penny” mentioned in the Book of Matthew at 22:16 and Mark at 12:13 and Luke 20:22. They may well be. They are not the only candidates. In fact, they are not even the most likely. Octavius struck coins with the inscription IMP CAES from 28 BC. He died in 14 AD, 42 years later. He struck hundreds of types of denarii, far more than Tiberius who was old when he took the office and who was politically conservative. Since Octavius Augustus struck much more silver than did Tiberius, it is more likely that the “tribute penny” carried the likeness of the earlier ruler. The January, 1996, issue of The Celator, featured Harvey Shore's “The Real ‘Tribute Penny’.” His thesis was that the Caius/Lucius issue of Augustus was the most common type of denarius at the time of Jesus's ministry. This is not a new theory. The December 1987 issue of World Coins (Amos Press), carried Robert Leonard's “A Numismatic Illustration of the Bible.” Speaking of the Tiberius/Livia, he said, “This coin) is usually considered to be the Tribute Penny denarius simply because it is the commonest denarius of this reign...A more probable candidate is the denarius of Augustus with reverse Caius and Lucius Caesars...it has been found frequently in Israel, while at one time the Tiberius denarius was thought to be almost unknown. there....” The historian Michael Grant also agrees that the Caius/Lucius denarius of Augustus is the best guess for the Tribute Penny of the Bible. In the July 1999 issue of The Australian Journal of Numismatics, Peter E. Lewis marshals a case for a tetradrachm of Antioch cataloged as SNG Copenhagen 144 (Syria). This coin has “Caesar” on both sides: Augustus and Tiberius. The inscription for Augustus calls him “theos” or “god” a clear abomination to the Jews. Also, this coin was about twice the diameter of a denarius and made a good demonstration piece for an encounter on the street. In the ancient world all silver coins passed by weight. There is no reason to assume that only the coins of the current ruler were accepted as good metal. Money changers worked in the Temple because so many types of coins circulated on the streets. In addition to shekels of Tyre and drachmas from Antioch and Pontus, there were many kinds of Roman denarii. Tiberius issued coins with the portrait and inscription of Augustus Caesar, Drusus Caesar, and Germanicus Caesar. In fact, all of these types were struck by the imperial mint at Caesaria (Eusebeia) in Cappadocia and would be more likely to be current in and around Jerusalem. Caius Caesar was the adopted son of Agrippa Lucius and Julia, the daughter of Julius Caesar. Caius was formally adopted by Octavius Augustus in 17 BC. Among his coins is one catalogued as Sydenham 38 (Cohen 2). The obverse shows the head of Caius facing right inside an oak wreath. The inscription reads CAESAR. On the reverse is the word AVGVST and an altar. Sydenham says that these denarii are “not of Roman fabric” and were probably “struck in the East.” Germanicus was another “Caesar” who was active in the East immediately before the ministry of Jesus. A nephew of Tiberius, Germanicus served at Antioch in Syria. He was poisoned in 19 AD. Of all the many Caesars whose image and superscription appeared on coins, Julius Caesar must not be forgotten. Once he was dead, he was immensely popular with everyone. He coined tons of denarii to pay his troops. He was active across the entire empire, especially, of course, at Alexandria where he involved Rome in the politics of Egypt. Marc Antony's coins are also a possibility for the “tribute penny.” While not a “Caesar”, Antony definitely had imperial aspirations. Unlike Brutus, he was not a republican, but an opportunist. He issued denarii to pay his troops with the inscriptions ANTONY IMP, ANTONY AVG, and ANTONY AVG IMP. Among his issues are coins struck during his alliance with Octavian Caesar. With these coins (Crawford 517/8 and Sydenham 1188), it possible for one person to see the image of Antony while another person sees the superscription of Caesar and vice versa. Coin dealers let Christians bid up the prices on the Livia-as-Pax denarii of Tiberius. However, there is no such thing as a “real tribute penny.” In fact, a set of possible tribute pennies would include the coins of six Caesars. If you only want one that is statistically likely, then the coin you need is the Caius/Lucius of Augustus. (“Five Caesars of the Tribute Penny,” originally was published Fall 1996 by The Mich-Matist. Previous versions of “Six Caesars” appeared online in Rec.Collecting.Coins and other sites. )
Nice summary of the candidates. I wrote a very similar article for a friends Biblical archaeology web site. https://biblereadingarcheology.com/2017/08/23/whose-image-is-on-the-coin/ My conclusion is that it must be a denarius of Tiberius for the illustration to drive home the point of paying back Caesar's things to Caesar but God's things to God". In the end that's the important part anyway.
I agree that a clear, literal reading of the Biblical text points us to a denarius of the current ruler. This is what makes the coin so interesting. Other Biblical coins such as the 30 pieces of silver, Widow’s Mite or coin in the fish’s mouth aren’t described in the text, as they were used to illustrate a quantity of money. The Tribute Penny is the only one for which the image and inscription are central to the story.
Philosophically speaking, the actual type of the coin is irrelevant to Jesus' message, which is a message echoed by disparate wisdom traditions through history: that some things are sacred and what is sacred transcends the market. It cannot be bought or sold. It's perfectly proper to render unto Caesar his monetary tribute, but Caesar has no purview over the divine virtues of love, honesty, generosity, etc. Those are the things we render unto God by rendering them unto other human beings.
I don't care if this is or isn't the coin that Jesus held...it's still a nice coin. I do wish it were cheaper to own, but the hype around it being the tribute penny (regardless of whether it is or isn't) makes them overpriced. Here's the two I own:
I have one with an interesting history. It is a coin from a known hoard-the Quidenham hoard found in Norfolk in 2014. What makes it interesting is that the hoard was found in a place associated with the camp of Queen Boudicca. It is speculated that members of her camp buried this coin along with other coins, before they set off on their raids. So it was not the bible connection that sold me on the coin but another historical connection instead. Tiberius ‘Tribute Penny’.AD16-37. Silver denarius. 17mm. 3.48g. RCV 1763 RIC 26 bold head, clear Livia. Found Quidenham hoard, Norfolk, 2014. Recorded as Coin #22, NMS-480CEEunder the portable antiquities scheme. Purchased from Chris Rudd Numismatics July 23, 2018.
So purdy I use it as my avatar. I kinda look like Tiberius, too, if he was going bald at the vertex and wore trifocals, that is!
This is something that we will probably never know definitively. Was the biblical reference representing the current Caesar? I will assume so because of tradition.
Great write up @kaparthy, and your link @Jay GT4 ! Thank you. I recently posted mine in another thread. But, I did get the fingerprints lifted off the coin, and had them ran through the database at the local Sheriff’s office. Wow, yeah, they found the fingerprints as from a Jesus of Nazareth. Confirmed! Yup, mine is the Caesar Tribute Penny held by Jesus. Case closed! RI Augustus AR Denarius struck 2 BC-14 AD Caius andLucius Caesars stdg shield spear Sear 1578
Kevin Butcher's thoughts on the 'Tribute Penny'. (I like how coin envelopes are used to store coins and trays to display them!)
I had the fingerprints run on my Tiberius too. None of them were a match for Jesus of Nazareth. Apparently some dude named Judas Iscariot had his fingers all over both sides of the coin. He must have rubbed out Jesus’ prints
Guess this one is Tiberius: Denarius, 17 x 16 mm, 3.48 g Lugdunum, ca. 15 - 18 AD Ref.: RIC I Tiberius 30 C; Obv.: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS Head of Tiberius, laureate, right Rev.: PONTIF MAXIM Livia (as Pax) seated right, holding reversed spear and olive-branch, feet on low footstool; ornate chair legs, single line under throne and Gaius & Lucius Denarius with mirror-imaged reverse type. Gaius, the elder of the two brothers, with ladle above him marking him as Pontifex, and with his shield placed in front of that of his brother, should have been given the more prestigious position on the left, and Lucius, with lituus above marking him as augur, and with his shield behind that of his brother, should have been on the right. On this coin instead Gaius is on the right and Lucius on the left. 17 x 19 mm, 3.74 g Gallia, Lugdunum, ca. 2 BC - 4 AD Ref.: RIC 210; RSC 43c;
