In This Corner Weighing In At 45.88 Grams .......... Emperor Tiberius Cæsar

I am (as is well known) a world class "cheapskate"
I really 'hates' paying the MAX for the MINIMVS !
But sometimes the MAXIMVS presents itself and well I justify it by selling off some of those orphans I have lying about the place.
Several years ago I acquired a superb Tiberius bronze from Utica. The coin was a "semi" cleaned specimen that once cured of that nasty desert patina revealed an incredible portrait of a rather youthful and boyish looking Tiberius.

Well I was hooked ......
Tiberius bronzes (and his protege Caligula) are now my primary area of interest. Especially those of North Africa and Spain ! But I digress ......

A few years ago I found a rather comical looking Tiberius from Zeugitana (tooled) that was being auctioned by Mssr "Z"
The portrait looked for all the world like Fred Flintstone and the tooling made it something I would rather not pay money for !
But as fate would have it CNG offered one up last year (sans tooling)
At first glance I didn't think too much of it although the current bid did scream "buy me".
So I tossed in a bid and moved on with life
A few weeks later I saw the "outbid" notice and didn't even have a memory of what I had bid on.
I looked at the picture and sighed
"what was I even thinking about ......"
Fortunately I paused to read the fine print

Tiberius ZEUGITANA
Colonia Iulia Pia Paterna AD 14-37
Æ "Sestertius" 38mm 45.88 g 6h L. Apronius, proconsul for the third time. Struck AD 21. TICAE DIVIAVGFAVGIMP VIIICOSIIII
Bare head right / PERMISSV LAPRONIPROCOS IIICSEXPOMCELSO etc. etc. etc.

38 millimeters !
45.88 grams !
Zeugitana !
Well he wasn't the prettiest girl I had ever seen but .....
A quickie online search revealed 3 different proconsul varieties and this one (L APRONIVS) seemed to be the least common variety.
A quick weight comparison and this one seemed to be the King of North Africa !
The more I looked the more fascinating the coin became
The reverse
Hermes seated on rocks holding caduceus
Hermes the god of tradesmen ...... seated on rocks
A god seated on rocks usually indicates ...... Islands ?
Just where was this COLONIA IVLIA PIA PATERNA located ?
It seems no one knows !
The only sources seem to place it somewhere in the vicinity of Tunisia
But those rocks bothered me
They aren't like the pile under seated Britannia
They look to me like a stone Pier ?
And Hermes ? Reminds me more of a fellow sitting on a Pier with a fishing pole on a sunny day !
So I googled "Tunisia Islands"
"Djerba"


Now I own a few Roman Veterans Colony types
Generally a colonist behind an oxen plowing the sacred border of the new colony. The retired army veterans settling down to become farmers.
But what about the "seafarers" ? Rome never was famous for its naval forces but they did exist.
Would retired sailors really want to settle down in a lush green valley in Gaul or Spain growing grapes ?
Or would they prefer sailing the Mediterranean from a sunny "resort" in North Africa ?
With a location like Djerba would the Romans not have built a playground type resort ?
Trading "smuggling" fishing and otherwise enjoying their pensions after a life of service to the State.

So if you made it this far ......
Here he is

ZEUGITANA Colonia Iulia Pia Paterna
Emperor Tiberius AD 14-37 Æ "Sestertius" 37-8mm 45.88 grams 6h
L APRONIUS proconsul for the third time
Struck AD 21
Obv. TICAEDIVIAVGFAVGIMPVIIICOSIIII
Bare head of Tiberius left
Rv. PERMISSV LAPRONIPROCOS IIICSEXPOMCELSO
Hermes wearing winged petasus and talaria seated left on rock outcropping, holding winged caduceus in right hand and leaning on left
C P I in fields
45.88 grams 37-8mm
RPC I 762.5




Note the "opening" in the flan at 5 o'clock reverse
This appears to be a casting bubble i.e. air trapped inside the mold when the bronze was poured to make the coin flan.
The metal is very coppery in color and if we calculate that copper was tariffed at half that of "brass" (orichalcum) then at 46 grams we have a true sestertius.
Which also begs the question ....... similar coins I have seen online weigh around half yet are also listed as being sestertius. Yet they must have been valued as a dupondius