Obolos 2

Tiberius, 14-37. Denarius (Silver, 18mm, 3.83 g 4), Lugdunum, c. 15-18. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS Laureate head of Tiberius to right, with one ribbon of his wreath on his shoulder. Rev. PONTIF MAXIM Livia (as Pax) seated right on a chair with ornamented legs, holding a long inverted spear with her right hand and an olive branch in her left; her feet set on footstool; single line below. BMC 48-60. BN 33-34. Cohen 16. Lyon 154. RIC 30. Attractively toned. Minor striking weakness, otherwise, very fine.

From the GH Collection, ex Paramount, 10 July 1976 (Elrod Collection), 612.

This coin forms part of Tiberius’s huge main issue of denarii, the so called “tribute pennies”(termed so from the reference in the New Testament at Mark 12:15 ), which were struck in a number of different varieties. They served as the principal Imperial silver coin during the second quarter of the 1st century and are, thus, rather common today, but examples as this one, with an elegant portrait of Tiberius and very sharply struck reverse, are quite hard to find. The late owner of this coin, Stanley R. Elrod, was a prominent grits broker from Charlotte, North Carolina; aside from Roman coins he also collected early printed hominy recipes