Tiberius augustus, 14 – 37. Quinarius, Lugdunum 30-31, AV 3.83 g. TI DIVI F – AVGVSTVS Laureate head r. Rev. TR POT – XXXII Victory seated r. on globe, holding wreath in both hands. C 59. BMC 23. RIC 16. CBN 12. King 12.
Rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Perfectly
struck and centred on a full flan and extremely fine

Ex Superior sale 7-10 June 1987, 4364. From the B. Ebsen and the George C. Hopkins collections.

This rare gold quinarius was struck by Tiberius in order to advertise his legitimacy as the successor of Augustus. The obverse legend names him as ”Tiberius Augustus, Son of the God.” Interestingly, the imperial title, which was also the personal name assumed by his adoptive father when he became the first Roman Emperor in 27 BC, is written out in full but the personal name of Tiberius is abbreviated down to two letters. Likewise, the titulature naming him as divi filius, ”the son of the god [i.e. the deified Augustus]” is written out much fuller than the name of the new Emperor. One would have to be illiterate not to see that Tiberius was at pains to emphasize his connection to the beloved Augustus and the superhuman status that it gave. Tiberius had good reason to be concerned about the appearance of legitimacy. For one thing, he had never been Augustus’ first choice as successor. The first emperor had actually intended to establish his close friend and architect of the victory at Actium, Marcus Agrippa, as his heir, but Agrippa died in 12 BC, long before his patron Augustus was in his own mausoleum. Tiberius was not even Augustus’ second choice. That honour belonged to Lucius and Gaius Caesars, the sons of Agrippa, but they too died to early, in AD 2 and AD 4 respectively. Tiberius only rated third place and was formally adopted by Augustus as his heir in AD 4, and then only on condition that he in turn adopt his nephew, the popular military commander, Germanicus. The coin as a whole provides a further connection to the memory of Augustus. In 7-6 BC, the first emperor struck a similar issue featuring his portrait with the legend AVGVSTVS DIVI F and featured a reverse depiction of Victory seated on a globe. The Tiberian issue clearly echoes this issue in every way except that the portrait has changed and the letters TI for Tiberius have been shoehorned into the original legend. The same Victory reverse type was employed for quinarii of Tiberius’ successor, Gaius, but the previous obverse legend had to be abandoned because the unpopular Tiberius was not deified after his death.