Marcus and the Emperor's Coin

In God We Trust Series, Book 2

By: Dennis Conrad

Narrated by: James Lee Rubart

Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin is an exciting adventure in the ancient Roman Empire at the time of Christ. Eight-year-old Marcus and his father are on a mission for the emperor and visit a mine and a mint where coins are made. Marcus himself makes a denarius, a coin with the emperor’s image.

Marcus goes to Jerusalem where he sees Jesus hold a denarius saying, “Give to the emperor the things are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” What will seeing Jesus mean for Marcus, and will he ever be the same again?

©2023 Dennis Conrad (P)2023 Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.

Great Narration and Original Storyline

A fun adventure with learning along the way. Marcus is a child that other children can identify with since he makes mistakes and gets embarrassed when he messes up or gets hurt. The information on coins during Jesus’ time was fascinating. I like that this addresses a lesson from Jesus that is most likely not in most Sunday school curriculums.

Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin

Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin is the second installment from the children's series, In God We Trust by Dennis Conrad. I thought this was a great story that teaches children a valuable lesson, while using an element of faith, as well as, history. Even though I am not the targeted audience for it, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was entertaining to follow Marcus on his journey and seeing what he would encounter along the way. Particularly, someone very important and what he learns about God. I liked the pages to follow with more historical context and some fun facts.


The audio version of Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin is narrated by James Lee Rubart. His performance was perfect to bring this story to life. It was enoyable to listen to.


I am giving Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin a very well deserved five plus stars. I highly recommend it for readers who are between the ages of five and ten and love to read historical fiction. I am hoping for more books to read from the In God We Trust series to see what Dennis Conrad has in store for his young readers. This one should not be missed.



I received a hard cover copy of Dennis Conrad's Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

A Very special Mission

This delightful story is of young Marcus, who accompanied his father on a very special mission during the days when Jesus was teaching and ministering to people, almost two thousand years ago. Marcus wants to please his father and understands that his father doesn’t want anything to go wrong on this journey. Knowing that he is clumsy at times, he is very concerned that he could do something to hinder the mission without meaning to. Marcus was eager to go someplace new and try things he hadn’t done before, so his experiences on the journey and at each stop would stay with him for a long time.

I appreciated how the author included the mint where the coins were made, and said how they were made. Marcus had a great learning experience there, and subsequently on the trip to deliver the coins to Jerusalem. While there, he had experienced the high point in the journey, an event that helped grow his faith, ask questions about what he heard, and have a profound effect on his life.

This audiobook would be a fun activity for parents (or teachers) and children together. It could be a lead-in for Bible stories about Jesus and the child’s faith. For children who ever feel clumsy when they want to be at their best, impress their parents, and try new activities, it could bring confidence and acceptance. With the section of information especially for the adults in the young readers’ lives, the parents can understand the word choices made to embrace the child’s skill level. Learning a little about coins and how to help a child or children begin coin collecting if they are interested could be an adventure for a family or an individual child. The audiobook narrator speaks clearly, is easy to understand, and includes inflections and individual character “voices”. I highly recommend this!

From a thankful heart: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher through Celebrate Lit and Audible, and this is my honest review.

Educational, Gospel Thread Included

This book is really an interesting way for kids to understand and maybe even take up coin collecting as a hobby. The book does well at explaining how coins were made in the past and also brings Jesus into the story at the end from the scriptures about giving Caesar what is his and God what is his. Marcus is very concerned about being too clumsy to be able to help his father transport the coins, but his mistakes are shown not ruining anything which would be encouraging to kids. The audiobook voice was inviting and the story would keep kids intrigued to finish it. The voice used had good character voices with different tones and inflections. The author included information on how to look at a coin and understand what you’re seeing. The short Gospel thread at the end reminded kids that God just wants us and loves us. I feel that kids in grade school ages would enjoy this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions given are my own.