Tiberius AD 14-37. Lugdunum (Lyon)
Aureus AV

20 mm, 7,79 g

TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / PONTIF MAXIM, Livia, as Pax, seated to right on throne with ornamented legs, holding sceptre and olive branch; single exergual line below.

Very Fine

RIC I 29; BMCRE 46; Lyon 147; Calicó 305c.

"With great skill and charisma, Augustus managed to effectively transform the Republic of Rome, governed by the Senate and people, into a monarchy. His successor and stepson, Tiberius, saw himself as a new Augustus. Therefore, as emperor, he not only faced an enormous predecessor but also had to come to terms with his still unconsolidated role as the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Not least in the realm of coinage, Tiberius thus retained many innovations of the first emperor. The very productive mint in Lugdunum, modern-day Lyon, which had already flourished under Augustus, became the sole mint for all precious metal coins during his successor's reign, while the minting of bronze denominations remained in Rome. The selection of coin motifs was also not characterized by experimentation: on the reverse of all Tiberius Aurei, there is a seated female figure holding attributes such as a scepter and an olive branch, which can be identified as the goddess of peace, Pax. However, she is often interpreted as a depiction of Livia Augusta, wife of Augustus, mother of Tiberius, and thus a familial link between the old and the new emperor." (quote: Sonja Hommen on bawue.museum-digital.de)