With roman coins i know the empererors bust appears on the obverse. What i dont understand is how prefects like pontius pilate were able to produce their own coins, especially simce there is no emperoror shown on thr coin. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Not much in the way of coin information, but I found the book "Killing Jesus" by Bill O'Reilly to be very enlightening regarding the Roman presence in Judea, and the relationship between the Roman Procurators and the Jewish Religious hierarchy.
As to why a local authority could strike a coin, Judea was an eastern roman province. Most of these provinces had the right to strike local bronze small change. These portrayed hundreds of different subject, so in that regard judea was similar to its neighbors. Nothing unusual.
Btw, for anyone interested in ancient judean coinage, David Hendin's book is the best. I believe its in its fourth edition.
In fact, there is an emperor shown on the coins of Pontius Pilate, just not a bust. His name is spelled out in Greek: TIBEPIOY KAICAPOC, or Tiberius Caesar.
