4 BC. Herod the Great dies, leaving his sons Archelaus and Antipas in charge. Judaea, however, is thrown into turmoil, prompting Caesar Augustus to intervene. The governor of Syria, Publius Quintillius Varus, marches to Jerusalem from Antioch with three of his legions, crucifies 2000 Jewish rebels, temporarily quashes the uprising, and assimilates Judaea into the province of Syria. (This is the last year Jesus Christ could have been born - Pope Gregory XIII was not aware of the exact date of Herod’s death, so his calendar is a few years off.) Although Augustus issued other coins proclaiming himself Archiereus, or High Priest, in my opinion, this issue may have been a message to the Jews, whose royal hierarchy traditionally featured priest-kings. The celators of Antioch were quite skilled at engraving lifelike busts, and this coin is good example. It could probably be cleaned a bit to reveal more of the bust and lettering. A reasonably rare coin in my experience - the first I've come across in several years of collecting, only 3 at acsearch, none at CNG. Caesar Augustus, 27 BC - AD 14 AE24, 8.0g, 12h; Antioch, Syria, 4/5 BC Obv.: AΡXIEΡEI KAIΣAΡ ΣEB; Laureate head right. Rev.: AΡXIE / ΡATIKON / ANTIO/ XEIΣ / ZK within wreath of an archiereus. Reference: RPC 4250; BMC 167.
Lovely coin JA...and wonderful historical context!!! Admittedly, I'm a bit prejudiced since I picked one up a few months ago:
Ok so 3 on ACS... @mikey has one, YOU have one, one is outstanding... Hmmm, so total inventory of these scarce coins HAS to be worth... say $3,000,000... so you spent a MILLION DOLLARS for that coin John??? WOW!
Yah, I'm fairly sure that couch-checkin' at Bing's house is a routine scheduled event!! Hey, that's two cheap-shots in one week, eh? (sorry dude, but you're just so Bing, ya know what I mean?) => but that's what I love about ya, brother
Hey, I have wide shoulders. This way at least you are not "cheap-shooting" someone else. Love ya little brother.
