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Tiberius. AD 14-37. AV Aureus (19.5mm, 7.64 g, 4h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Group 4, AD 18-35. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS, laureate large head right, one ribbon on shoulder / PONTIF MAXIM, Livia (as Pax) seated right on chair, holding scepter in right hand and olive branch in left, feet on footstool; ornate chair legs, single line below. RIC I 29; Lyon 149; cf. Calicó 305a var. (spear); BMCRE 46-7; BN 25. Underlying luster, faint hairlines. EF.
From the PLZ Collection. Ex North American Collection (Triton XI, 8 January 2008), lot 882; Antiqua FPL XIV (December 2006), no. 134.
The son of Augustus’ wife Livia by her previous marriage to a member of the Claudian family, Tiberius Claudius Nero was born in 42 BC in the waning days of the Roman Republic. Augustus had ambivalent feelings toward his stepson, finding him dour and humorless, but still provided him with an excellent education and an accelerated career. He found his true calling as a soldier, where he spent years in the field with his legions expanding the Empire’s holdings in the Balkans and Germany. In 12 BC, Augustus arranged for his widowed daughter Julia to marry Tiberius, seemingly a mark of high favor. But Julia was promiscuous and capricious, and the marriage was a failure. A despairing Tiberius went into exile in Rhodes in 6 BC, seemingly ending his public life.
Augustus had clear intentions with his planned succession with the adoption of his childhood friend, and most important ally, Agrippa. Unfortunately, Agrippa died unexpectedly while campaigning in what would become the Roman province of Pannonia. His loss shook Augustus deeply. He next turned to his two grandsons, Gaius and Lucius, whom he took great joy in both raising and training. Sadly, both Gaius (4 AD) and Lucius (2 AD) would also die prematurely. With these deaths, Tiberius was reluctantly recalled to Rome, officially adopted, and granted the Tribunican power, marking him out clearly as successor. From then forward, he was essentially co-emperor and succeeded to the throne without challenge upon Augustus’ death on August 19, AD 14. By this time Tiberius was an embittered man of 56 who no longer really wanted supreme power. His long, immensely conservative reign reflects this, and he spent the last decade of his life in semi-retirement at a luxurious villa on the island of Capri while his Praetorian prefects, first Sejanus and then Macro, ran affairs in Rome with brutal efficiency. He surely never knew about the most momentous event of his reign, the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus Christ in far-off Judaea.
His first coinage issues quite understandably stressed his dynastic connections and the deification of his adoptive father. Tiberius’ later coinage in silver and gold was likely the most uninspired over the course of the entire duration of the Roman Empire, with a single reverse type predominating for more than two decades. This coinage is perhaps most fondly referred to today as the biblically inspired “Tribute Penny” type.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 132 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 18-19 May 2026.
CNG Feature Auction 132 – Session One – Lot 1-318 will be held Monday morning, 18 May 2026 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
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