Tiberius Silver Denarius, RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2

Monetary and Political Context

The death of Augustus on August 19, AD 14, presented the nascent Roman Principate with its first test of dynastic succession. Augustus had carefully cultivated Tiberius as his institutional successor, conferring tribunician power and joint proconsular imperium upon him in AD 13. When Augustus died, Roman monetary operations at the primary precious-metal facility in Lugdunum immediately shifted to project the legitimate continuity of the regime. The denarius defined the silver denomination of the empire, serving as the benchmark currency for military stipends, tax collections, and inter-regional commerce. Under Augustus, the denarius had stabilized at a nominal standard of 1/84th of a Roman pound (libra), yielding an intended target weight of roughly 3.85 to 3.9 grams of fine silver. Struck alongside an aureus type carrying an identical design, RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2 formed part of the very first substantive silver issue produced in Tiberius's own name as princeps. The ideological imperative of the moment required an overt assertion of filial piety toward the deceased ruler and a visible reminder of Tiberius's military credentials. By celebrating a proven general whose triumphs protected Rome's frontiers, the new regime used the state currency to reassure the legions, the senatorial aristocracy, and the urban populace of imperial stability.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

Numismatic consensus places the manufacture of RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2 securely at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France). Founded as a Roman colony in 43 BC, Lugdunum developed into the chief administrative hub of the Gallic provinces and had functioned as the primary western imperial strike point for Roman gold and silver since circa 15 to 12 BC. While the mint of Rome operated for local and provincial base-metal issues, the bulk of imperial precious metal remained concentrated at Lugdunum throughout the late Augustan and early Tiberian eras. Production of this denarius followed standard imperial striking methods using cast silver flans prepared from refined metal of consistently high silver content, generally exceeding 95 percent purity. Engravers at Lugdunum cut obverse dies with careful Hellenistic modeling, reflecting the artistic tradition inherited from late Augustan master dies. The reverse die required delicate engraving to render four distinct equine profiles, a detailed chariot body, and the intricate attributes held by the triumphal figure. Because this issue served a transitional period before being replaced by more uniform types, its relative volume of surviving dies is modest compared to later Tiberian denarii.

Obverse Iconography and Modeling

The obverse of RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2 presents a laureate portrait of Tiberius facing right. The treatment of the emperor's portrait departs subtly from the youthful, idealized style of early Augustan portraiture, offering instead an austere, aristocratic likeness that balances dynastic classicism with individualized features. Tiberius is shown with neatly combed hair brushed forward on the crown and terminating in layered locks above the forehead, a hallmark of Julio-Claudian court art. The laurel wreath encircling his head functions as a prominent symbol of triumph and Apollo's protection, tied behind the occiput with two ribbons (lemnisci) resting along the nape of the neck. Engravers rendered the prominent hooked nose, firm chin, and broad forehead characteristic of Tiberius, while retaining smooth facial planes that softened his true age, as he was in his fifty-sixth year at the time of accession. The portrait faces right, an orientation standard for early Julio-Claudian imperial denarii, surrounded by a cleanly lettered legend enclosed within an outer beaded border.

Reverse Design and Symbolic Imagery

The reverse of the coin depicts Tiberius standing in a triumphal quadriga proceeding slowly toward the right. The emperor is depicted wearing a toga and the triumphal cloak (paludamentum), his head crowned with a laurel wreath. In his right hand, extended forward, he holds a branch of laurel (laurus), the emblem of victorious peace and ritual purification. In his left hand, he clasps an eagle-tipped sceptre (scipio eburneus), a venerable attribute of supreme imperatorial authority derived from ancient Roman consular and triumphal ceremonies. The quadriga, an ornate four-horse chariot, is rendered in profile, with all four equine heads depicted turning toward the right, demonstrating the engraver's command of depth and perspective. The horses advance at a measured, stately walk rather than a gallop, signifying a solemn procession through the city of Rome along the Via Sacra toward the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. The scene directly evokes Tiberius's triumphal entry of AD 12, granted for the pacification of Pannonia and Illyricum and the stabilization of the Rhine frontier after the Varian disaster of AD 9.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The inscriptions on RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2 present essential chronological and constitutional evidence for dating and ideological analysis. The obverse legend reads TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS, rendered continuously clockwise around the right and left field. In Latin epigraphy, this expands to Tiberius Caesar, Divi Augusti Filius, Augustus (Tiberius Caesar, son of the Deified Augustus, Augustus). The crucial element DIVI AVG F emphasizes that Tiberius ruled as the son of a consecrated god, following the precedent established when Octavian proclaimed himself Divi Filius in the late Republic. The title Augustus, adopted after initial hesitation recorded in literary sources, finalized his imperial position. The reverse legend reads TR POT XVI IMP VII, which expands to Tribunicia Potestate sextum decimum, Imperator septimum (Invested with the Tribunician Power for the sixteenth time, acclaimed Imperator for the seventh time). The sixteenth renewal of Tiberius's tribunician power occurred around June 26, AD 14, and ran until mid-summer AD 15. The imperatorial acclamation IMP VII was his final military acclamation awarded during the lifetime of Augustus for German campaigns. These precise numbers secure the striking of the coin between the death of Augustus in August AD 14 and the renewal of Tiberius's tribunician power to TR POT XVII in June or July AD 15.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC 2 occupies the opening sequence of Tiberius's imperial silver catalogue. The type was issued strictly parallel to an aureus variety catalogued as RIC 1, which shares the identical reverse quadriga composition and titling. A brief sub-variant exists under RIC 3, where the quadriga composition is mirrored to the left. The duration of production for RIC 2 was relatively brief, spanning solely the transition period of late AD 14 into the first half of AD 15. Once Tiberius received his seventeenth tribunician renewal in mid AD 15, updated issues bearing TR POT XVII were struck briefly. Shortly thereafter, the mint of Lugdunum discontinued the explicit annual updating of tribunician dates on silver denarii and gold aurei, substituting the long-lived seated female type (commonly catalogued as RIC 26, 28, and 30, with obverse legend TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS and reverse PONTIF MAXIM). Consequently, RIC 2 represents a tightly dated horizon at the very dawn of Tiberius's sole principate, providing numismatists with a fixed chronological anchor.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Denarii of the RIC 2 type circulated broadly throughout the western provinces, across the Danubian and Rhine frontiers, and into the Mediterranean economy. However, due to its narrow production window of under twelve months, RIC 2 appears in hoard evidence far less frequently than the prolific PONTIF MAXIM denarius series of Tiberius or the preceding Gaius and Lucius Caesar denarii of Augustus. Hoard discoveries across Roman Gaul, Britain, and the German frontier zones show that early Tiberian denarii remained in active circulation for decades, often alongside worn Augustan silver. Because Julio-Claudian silver maintained high fineness, later emperors prior to Nero did not systematically call in or melt down these coins. They frequently appear in middle first-century AD context hoards, such as military deposits related to the Claudian invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the civil conflicts of AD 68 to 69. Over decades of commercial use, specimen weights gradually diminished through wear, with many circulating examples falling from the pristine 3.8-gram striking weight to below 3.5 grams before their final archaeological deposition.

References

1. Le Monnayage de l'Atelier de Lyon: Des origines au règne de Caligula (43 av. J.-C. - 41 ap. J.-C.). pp. 142-145
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 120-121, nos. 1-4
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Tiberius 2. ric.1(2).tib.2
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). p. 93, no. 2