What is a good price for Tiberius Tribute Penny - VF-XF

huh..that is really neat!

 

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Interesting topic! Some time ago someone here asked about budgeting for a set of Twelve Caesars in VF silver. Off the top of my head, I pegged a Tiberius denarius at about $400, but as others have pointed out already, prices are going to be determined by many other factors than just a VF or EF grade. I agree with Ides' $1200 minimum figure for an nice EF as well as Roman Collector's $400-$600 for something with a lot of eye-appeal. It would really be helpful if the OP could share a picture or link of some examples from online sales records to show exactly what meets his criteria for this type.

This one here is mine. I have a problem saying exactly how much it cost me because I bought it together with 90 other coins in a group lot. For purposes of my own records, I pegged its value at $480. I'd be curious to hear if others think I was on the mark, near it, or way off.

 

Looks amazing, and exactly what I am looking for in terms of quality and sharpness. The one I was looking at missing left side legend on obverse

 

That's a beauty @zumbly and money well spent I think.

 

@zumbly, that's an example of better style

Here's mine, just for the pleasure of piling on. Telling its price would be pointless as I bought it in the early 90'


Tiberius, Denarius minted in Lyon after 15-16 AD
TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGUSTUS, Laureate head of Tiberius right
PONTIF MAXIM, Woman seated right (Livia ?)
3.71 gr
Ref : RCV #1763, Cohen #16

Q

 

Outstanding style on both sides there, Q!

 

Huh, so that's what a tribute penny is, eh? (a Tiberius denarius)

... man, collecting coins is confusing

Oh, I think Doug's imitative example is super cool and Ancient Aussie's, Roman Collector's, Nemo's, Bing's, Z-Bro's and Q's examples are also awesome looking coins! (ummm, did I miss anybody?)



Huh, a Tiberius silver denarius is a tribute penny (I'm outta the loop)

 

My observations/opinions on a couple of the recent coins shown:

The portrait style of this coin is among the best you'll find of Tiberius on a tribute penny. Despite missing Livia's foot and part of the reverse legend, this is a very desirable coin and would be graded EF by any auction in which it appeared. You'd be lucky to find this coin for less than $1,500 today.

This portrait is also quite good, the centering is excellent, and it's only moderately worn. It was a bargain if you got this recently for an estimated $480.

My own coin was purchased over nine years ago so its price isn't useful in today's market, but its style is very similar to Cucumbor's:



TIBERIUS 42 B.C. - 37 A.D.
AR Denarius (3.63 gm.) "Tribute Penny" Lugdunum RIC 30
TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS Laureate head of Tiberius r. Rev. PONTIF MAXIM Female figure seated right

My dealer described this coin as "superb."

 

This might be a weirdly specific thing to be impressed by, but I would never expect to see foreshortening on an ancient coin like I see exhibited in the chair arm of your reverse, Ides.

And the cheekbone on that obverse! Maybe there's a family connection between old Tiberius and Johnny Depp?

 

...want! I bowed at $600 or so for one just like this.

 

Those who have things like to be sure there is someone out there who still wants something. If there were 20 (my guess???) and only 10 people cared, my heirs would take a loss from the $100 I paid. I was offended when CNG sold one as part of a lot of two coins (the other was an Indian aureus). There are a million Bible readers who want a coin that Jesus was shown and probably only 100,000 Tribute Pennies so they sell for a lot. I doubt this coin is on many want lists.

A few years back CNG sold more than one lot that I found very interesting just because they existed.
https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=97972
These were Indian and unofficial but casts and not 'original art' like mine. I have no idea who bought the groups but I wonder how many of the unofficial ones are still identified that way. There are a huge number of modern fake Tribute Pennies and no small number of Indian copies. For the record, I believe my TP below is really nice style and would be in quite high demand if only it were not for it being so obviously a fourree. Tiberius made these coins by the millions; unfortunately, he was not alone in that effort. Beware!

 

Not brilliant but I consider a good buy for $161 USD, plus fees sold last weekend on a Swiss auction I was in with only one bid.

 

I think the tribute penny is one of the better stories of the Bible. It is extra neat because I have a coin related to the story. I pasted the story from an on-line source, so I hope it is a reasonably good translation -
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.
Mark 12:13-17 New International Version (NIV)

At the time Jesus told this stroy, only three Roman Rulers had placed their portrait on a coin AND used the name CAESAR: Julius, Octavian / Augustus and Tiberius. The coin Jesus held could have been from any of those rulers, but a Tiberius would have been more likely. Tiberius had only two reverse types and the seated Livia was far more common.

 

I agree. That's a great looking coin for under $200.

 

Yes they have few bargains on Auctiones GmbH, but only run every couple of months.

 

Nice score!

 

Tough to find them in decent shape under $200 due to market demand. Here's mine. A bit off-center, but that probably brings it into my price range. $157 this past December, from Numismática Prados on VCoins.

 

Thank you

 

So I had my eye on one I found at eBay, before this thread appeared, and it looked pretty good to me. The seller is new, with evidently not much coin knowledge which I know is a gamble - to my eye the coin appears righteous. I put in a snipe as I figured I might pick it up cheaply. Due to this thread I bumped up my max bid just a touch north of 5 bills, but still came away a loser.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roman-Coin-Tiberius-14-37AD-/172589279783?nma=true&si=cUPPGhj7uQACJ8c2Ru804JOGFWQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

I was watching it, but not sure about the quality, a bit smoothed for my taste and not sure about authenticity - $680+ shipping 60 way too much for me, for unknown pedigree. But this is just me