I picked this up a few weeks ago from a dealer in Israel and after a weeklong delay for IAA export approval and a few more weeks for shipping and customs it finally arrived over the weekend. This particular prutah is thought to be possibly the first type of independent Jewish coinage, shortly after the death of Antiochus VII. Once again, I shot for an example with sharp paleo-Hebrew legends and I think I did really well on this one. The "A" may seem a bit out of place, but from what I have read it symbolizes some kind of agreement made with the Seleucids. I actually have two photos to post below, with the second one being a sort-of annotated photo that makes the legends and the start of each word a bit clear. Full ID: Hasmonian Kingdom of Judaea, John Hyrcanus I AE Prutah. 135-104 BC. Obverse: 'A' monogram, YHO(HH)NN("Yehochanan") H("the") KHN("Priest") H("the") GDL("high") W("and") (HH)BR("Council") H("the") YHWDYM("Jews") Paleo-hebrew within wreath. Reverse: Double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, border of dots. Jerusalem mint. Hendin 1132. Meshorer TJC A
oh wow, that's cool RS. the text is very clear...at least once i look at your guide. so the legend is read right to left? like aramaic (i think)?
Thanks, and yes, the text is read left to right like Aramaic, as is modern Hebrew. Interestingly this is a very old Hebrew alphabet that even at the time was not in everyday use and likely wasn't known by the die engravers, but was a sort of throwback to earlier times.
It is amazing how many thousands of these survive with illegible legends and horrific centering. This is truly one in a million. Many of us have a similar coin so I went looking at mine. The first thing I see is how much worse the centering on my reverse is. The second thing is how different the legends are. I don't read Paleo-Hebrew. Maybe saying the coin was one in a million was understating it. It will be hard to upgrade, to say the least.
The OP coin is indeed wonderful. I wouldn't say one in a million, but easily one in a thousand. Doug, your example is also of John Hyrcanus, Hendin 1137. There are a number of legend variants among these coins. Here's the key to reading yours... WHY HKHNNH' RLDGN BH'SHW HYHR It translates as... YHO(HH)NN =Yehonanan H = the KHN = Priest H =the GDL = high RO(SH)= Head HBR= council H = the YDY, short for YHWDEM = Jew. Yehonanan the High Priest and Head of the Council of Jews Your coin is a rare variant that uses the word "head." I've highlighted it in white on the graphic.
Good gosh John, I should have you look at mine. I probably have 80 like Doug has, many worst but some better centering. I throw them all in a box labeled Jewish Prutah. I don't try to make out the writing really. Another project for when I am retired I guess. Actually I just picked up two jewish coins last weekend. They are interesting to me because they were in B Max Mehl flips. One was a widow's mite, the other a first revolt piece. Both were actually perfectly centered, which was weird since that is pretty unusual. Mehl might have been full of himself in advertising, but it looks like he sent out nice coins.
Many of the Roman Provincial prutoh were actually centered pretty well - they were just unevenly struck for the most part. These earlier Hasmonean pieces can be all over the map. The OP coin gets an A+ for being centered on both sides, but Doug's coin isn't chopped liver - the text is fully readable and it's a scarce variety.
