Prutoh Starter Set

How can you be sure? I have a tough time with reading the legends on Nabataean drachms.

 

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The names of the king and queen appear on the right side of the obverse and reverse and the legends are read counter-clockwise. Unfortunately, on Nemo's coin, both are off-flan. But the bust is that of Aretas IV. The busts of kings on Nabataean drachms are sufficiently different enough to distinguish them on that attribute alone.

 

These prutoh arrived today, and I'm quite pleased with them. (Any day the mailman delivers four coins is a good day.) I've started photographing them, so here is the first, with a complete attribution...

Judaea, Herod Agrippa
AE Prutah, 17mm, 2.7g, 5h; Jerusalem, 41/42 AD.
Obv.: BACIΛEWC AΓPIПA; fringed, umbrella-like canopy.
Rev.: Three ears of barley and two leaves; date L-ς (year 6).
Reference: Hendin 1244.



Does anyone know if there is any significance to three ears of barley? I'm assuming the umbrella is some sort of royal symbol - perhaps something the king's servants would carry to shade him? A cursory search on the internet doesn't give me many details.

Herod Agrippa lived quite the tumultuous life, but he was a popular king. The wiki article is very informative and brief..

 

Hendin says the canopy is a symbol of royal power but says nothing of the meaning of the barley. Since graven images were forbidden by Jewish law, I've always assumed they were to signify prosperity. It's interesting to note that when Pilate struck his coins he also used the grain but the outside ears are drooping.

 

Meshorer says the canopy was a symbol of power, used to shade royalty from the sun or protect them from rain. It is identifying Agrippa as king. The three ears of grain signify Israel as a land of plenty.

 

4 coins in the mail box...heck yeah! very nice looking prutuah JA! it it just me, or almost all of these herod agrippa coin year 6?

 

It's not just you. I noticed the same thing. Perhaps it's the only year they were minted? Or perhaps other years are rare...

 

Cool additions

 

No other year of the Agrippa prutah has been found. Other coins were struck in his name but they are very rare. There has been some debate in numismatic circles as to whether these were struck under Agrippa II and not Agrippa I at all. Hendin does not support this idea.

 

Thanks Al! I was wondering why there was a double attribution on Wildwinds.

 

If you are going to get into Judaean coins, I highly recommend David Hendin's "Guide to Biblical coins". It's a very good book, with lots of info.

 

Yes, his other coins are rare. I was thrilled to acquire one of his rarest and more interesting types. Rather worn but still easily identified. Agrippa I. 37-44 AD. AE 23, 11.45g. Caesarea Paneas Mint, Year 5, 40/1 AD.
O: [ΓΑΙΩ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΙ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΩ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΙΚΩ] (For Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), Laureate head of Caligula left.
R: [ΝΟΜΙΣΜΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΑ] (coin of King Agrippa). LE (Year 5=40/41) in exergue; Germanicus stands in triumphal quadriga in honor of his recovery of the standards lost by Varus, car decorated with Nike standing right.
- Hendin 1240. TJC 230-1,116. AJC II 2. RPC 4976.

One of the rarest coin types of Agrippa I (26 listed?).

The grandson of Herod I, Agrippa I, so-named in honor of the victor of Actium, spent much of his youth in the Roman imperial court. Popular with the imperial family, including the emperor Tiberius, Agrippa passed much of his time in the home of Antonia Minor, the mother of Germanicus and the future emperor Claudius.

There, the boys became great friends, and as an older man, Agrippa became attached to the future emperor Gaius, being appointed governor of the territories of Batanaea and Trachonitis upon Gaius’ accession. Unfortunately contemporary politics placed a significant strain on the relationship between the king and Rome.

In AD 39 Agrippa’s uncle, Antipas, was accused of plotting with the Parthians and was exiled. Agrippa’s loyalty gained him his uncle’s forfeited territories. In AD 40 renewed riots between Greeks and Jews broke out in Alexandria, and Gaius, clearly unhappy with his Jewish subjects, provocatively ordered the installation of a statue of himself within the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem.

Agrippa, who had been unsuccessfully involved in trying to quell similar riots in Alexandria before, sought to emphasize his loyalty to local Roman officials by striking coinage which commemorated his long-standing friendship with Gaius and, especially, Germanicus.

Based on the dupondii struck in honor of the emperor’s father Germanicus, this coin includes the great general riding in his triumphal car in honor of his recovery of the standards lost by Varus, rather than portraying Agrippa himself, an identification emphasized by the specific inclusion of the word NOMISMA (Coin) in the legend.

By avoiding self promotion, Agrippa hoped to successfully navigate the treacherous waters which might result in his own removal from power.

 

It's been on my want list for some time.

I've been working on the attribution of the second coin, trying to understand the Paleo-Hebrew letters and words. The only letter I'm having trouble with is tsade - it does not look like the tsade in charts of the the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. I'm assuming the letter on the coin is tsade because Zion is spelled ציון in modern Hebrew. Whoever reads these coins fluently, feel free to correct me...

 

@Nemo - congratulations on the acquisition of a rare coin, and thank you kindly for sharing some of Agrippa I's history.

 

I've contacted Mr. Fontanille before with questions and he was quite helpful. He has the Menorah Coins website. Fantastic site that I'm sure your aware of. jp.fontanille@sympatico.ca

 

Thanks again Al. I was not aware of this site - I now have it bookmarked. Looking through his coins, I now see that the letter is in fact tsade. I was looking at it from the wrong angle. So here is the complete attribution...

First Jewish Revolt, AD 66-70
AE Prutah, 17mm, 3g, 6h; Jerusalem, AD 68/9.
Obv.: שנת שלוש (Year Three); Amphora with broad, fringed rim and two handles.
Rev.: חרות ציונ (Freedom of Zion); Grape leaf on vine.
Reference: Hendin 1363.



The legends on this coin are read counter-clockwise, starting at the lower right on the obverse, and upper left on the reverse. I've noticed, however, that on some varieties, the legends start in different places. Also, on year 2 coins, Freedom (חרות) is sometimes spelled without the waw (חרת).

 

Your coin looks much nicer with your pics. Well done.

Here is a link to the Menorah website for anyone that's interested.

http://www.menorahcoinproject.org/fjr-07.htm

 

Continuing to photograph and learn about these coins, here is the third.

Judaea, Antonius Felix, Procurator under Claudius
AE Prutah, 19mm, 3.4g, 5h; Jerusalem, AD 54.
Obv.: TI KΛAYΔIOC KAICAP ΓEPM (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus); Two crossed palm branches / L IΔ (year 14)
Rev.: Inscription in wreath IOY/ ΛIA AΓ/ PIΠΠI/ NA (Julia Agrippina).
Reference: Hendin 1347.



About 75% of the letters on the obverse are visible on my coin (if you know where to look), but some are bit rough and clipped. All of the letters are visible on the reverse...



So the only Judaean element on this coin is the symbol of crossed palms. The rest advertises the emperor and empress of Rome. It's not that I didn't know the Romans occupied Judaea during this interval of course, but for some reason I didn't think of prutoh as Roman provincial coins, which in fact is exactly what they are.

 

Wow JA => painting your coin purple was a fantastic idea (that's thinking way outside of the box, my friend) ...

... it definitely makes it stand-out a bit more than the other more typical looking examples (bravo)

 

Aaaaahahahahaha!