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.
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Author: Michael E. Marotta
Keywords: Tribute penny, Denarius, Roman denarius, Roman coin, Coin, Roman coinage, Penny, Tribute money, Render unto Caesar, Things that are Caesars, denarii, Inscription, Coin inscription, superscription, Coin superscription
Bible reference(s): Matthew 22:19-21, Mark 12:15-17, Luke 20:24-25
Source: “Six Caesars Of The Tribute Penny.”
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