This coin was minted by Pontius Pilate in 30AD based upon the coin inscription of LIZ.   Many persons believe that this was the year that Christ was crucified.  Thus, this coin is often called a "crucifixion coin" since it was minted by the ruler who authorized Christ's crucifixion on the year that he was crucified.

The coin depicts a lituus, which is a wooden staff on one side of the coin and a wreath on the reverse.  Legend records that Romulus used it at the time of Rome's foundation in 753 B.C. It is interesting to note that the cross used in present times is the direct descendant of the lituus.  Pilate 's coinage is exceptional in that it alone displays the lituus as the sole object illustrated on the face, and was the coin being minted at the time of Christ's crucifixion.