I have a couple more favorites for 2016 I'm not sure if I posted one of these before—I may have. Here are a couple of my favorites. I have four of them but these are the best two (obverse—reverse views). I added a Roman spear and some ceramic shards to set the scene. These Judaean prutot circa 66–70 A.D. are being marketed as “Masada coins”. I realize that some of this is hype but nonetheless fascinating. To think that these were in circulation during the siege of Masada blows my mind.
D.R.- have you seen those ostraca - the inscribed pottery sherds? Seems like one or two of those would be a dandy addition to a "Masada" themed grouping. Unless I'm much mistaken, a number of them were found at Masada, leading to some colorful speculation about the doomed defenders "drawing lots" in their final hours. I've seen ancient ostraca for sale on VCoins periodically, though usually from a Greek rather than Judaean context. But I'm sure Judaean ones are out there.
One warning, though- prepare for a little bit of sticker shock over what they want for what is essentially broken pottery with a little graffiti on it! Still, stuff like that tells a story, and that's where the magic lies, right?
Wait... were those ostraca in your picture in the OP all along? I initially viewed this thread on my phone, so I must've overlooked them if they were.
LOL! No, they were not there the first time. I'm a Photoshop veteran. I work for the church printing and graphics office.
Deacon Ray, You never disappoint! One of my goals in 2017 is to get a Jewish War prutah. I'd love to get piece of pottery like the ones in the picture, but, there's probably no chance of that happening anytime soon. Erin
Yes, lots of them were found there and in the beginning people did speculate they were associated in the 'murder-suicide' but current research has led to their being described as associated with rationed food.
