Who was denarius6/22/2023 ![]() We do not know, nor is it likely we will ever know any more. Throughout the 20th and now into the 21st century, this is the generally repeated lore. With this information, the scholars of Biblical Coins of the 19th century, such as the Reverends Rogers and Madden, both tentatively identified the Tiberius denarius as the most probable type to have been the “Tribute penny.” This was always done with plenty of caveat. (Sorry, the provincial tetradrachms of Augustus and Tiberius don’t show up too often here, either.) They do show up from time to time, but not in any sizeable quantities. In fact, the provincial drachms of Cappadocia are just as commonly seen. Neither the Augustus nor the Tiberius denarius coins are very common in the markets of Israel, and they never have been. The other two types are quite rare indeed. The MAXIM PONTIF denarius represents more than 98 percent of the known denarii struck under Tiberius. This means that during most of the time of the ministry of Jesus, Tiberius was the emperor, while Augustus was the emperor of Jesus’ childhood. However, let us look at the clues.Īugustus reigned from 27 to 14 B.C. This story may be the best-known Biblical reference to a coin, and it is frustrating not to be able to identify it exactly (any more than we can identify the widow’s mite type exactly). And Jesus, answering, said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:14-17) And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, Caesar’s. “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it. On the other hand, it is certainly possible that the “Tribute penny” was a denarius of Augustus. I can tell you that this is the current approach to the “Tribute penny.” Some writers have made an effort to “prove” that the provincial tetradrachms of Augustus or Tiberius are more likely candidates, but that approach is very far-fetched in my opinion. How do you know it was not a denarius of Augustus?ĭear Reader-I don’t know who told you that I “knew” any of that. Hendin-How do you know that the denarius of Tiberius with the MAXIM PONTIF reverse is really the “Tribute penny” that is mentioned in Mark 12.
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