Silver Tetradrachm of the Emperor Tiberius (14
AD – 37 AD). Laureate head of Tiberius, right /
Radiate head of the divine Augustus, right. SNG
Copenhagen 144 (Syrai.
This is a Roman provincial coin issued under the
reign of the Emperor Tiberius, probably minted
in the city of Antioch, Syria. The obverse of the
coin displays the laureate head of that emperor,
while the reverse displays the radiate head of the
divine Augustus Caesar, Tiberius’ predecessor
and the first official Roman emperor. The
inscriptions on both sides are in Greek, the
common language of the eastern provinces of
the Roman Empire. The reverse bears the head of
the former emperor, Augustus Caesar, wearing a
radiate crown, and the inscription indicating that
he had been divinized. The radiate crown,
appeared often on depictions of deceased and
divinized emperors, and this iconography
suggested connections with the god Helios.
Rome often divinized her most popular emperors
after their deaths, and considered them to be
equivalent to lesser gods. Emperors also would
frequently mint coins offering tribute to their
predecessor, effectively connecting the new
emperor with the deeds and trustworthiness of
the predecessor. As such, Roman coins often
served as propaganda and mass communication
as well as currency.
For quite some time, scholars and theologians
have debated over what type of coin was the
“tribute penny” spoken of in the Christian
gospels. Mosty scholars have assumed that it
was a simple denarius of the emperor Tiberius,
but other scholars have disagreed, and with good
reason. In the July, 1999 issue of The Australian
Journal of Numismatics, Peter E. Lewis argued
that the coin held up by Jesus to illustrate his
parable was in fact a silver tetradrachm of
Antioch cataloged as SNG Copenhagen 144
(Syria). The inscription on the reverse, which calls
Augustus a god was a clear abomination to the
Jews, and therefore a very appropriate choice to
illustrate a problematic subject for Jewish
inhabitants of a pagan empire. Additionally, the
larger size of this coin, being roughly twice the
diameter of a denarius, made it a more visible
coin for demonstration to a crowd.
