January 2025 - Denver Coin Club Meeting - Tribute Penny

I arrived at the meeting fashionably late around 7:15 PM as they were wrapping up the auction.  This was followed by the Dan Carr club medallions that were auctioned off as first strikes.  Silver examples were going for around $105 and copper around $55.

David Francis of Artful Investments gave an interesting talk on tribute pennies.  The Tribute Penny is famous as the coin that was shown to Jesus and followed with his speech, "Render unto Caesar..."  The coin is a Denarius and could be Tiberius (obverse) and Livia (reverse) OR Augustus (obverse) and Gaius and Lucius (reverse).

Representative coins can be found for $500 or less.  Nice examples would be in the $1500-$2000 price range.

There is a biblical tie in to these coins.  It was a very common coin minted in Rome and at mints near silver mines as well as traveling mints to pay Roman soldiers.  Lugdunum was a frequently referenced mint during the talk.

Overall an interesting slice of history from the late BC early AD time frame.  I do like dime size coins as they are good for commerce.