The New York Sale
Auction 39 10 January 2017
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ANCIENT JEWISH COINS, HASMONEAN DYNASTY, Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.35 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew), lily, within circular beaded border. Rev. , inverted anchor within circle. (TJC grp. N; Hendin 1148). Dark green patina. Extremely fine.
Purchased privately, May 1991.
This emission seems to look back to the Seleukid coinage struck at Jerusalem by John Hyrcanus I for his ostensible overlord, the Seleukid king Antiochos VII Sidetes in 132-130 BCE. Both feature a lily on the obverse as a symbol of Jerusalem and an anchor as a badge of royal (Seleukid) authority. Here, however, Jannaeus seems to use it as a means of indicating his legitimacy as the successor to the now feeble and virtually extinct line of Seleukid kings. It is no accident that the Paleo-Hebrew legend appears alongside the Jewish emblem of the lily while the Greek legend is associated with the anchor.
Estimate: $ 250
Purchased privately, May 1991.
This emission seems to look back to the Seleukid coinage struck at Jerusalem by John Hyrcanus I for his ostensible overlord, the Seleukid king Antiochos VII Sidetes in 132-130 BCE. Both feature a lily on the obverse as a symbol of Jerusalem and an anchor as a badge of royal (Seleukid) authority. Here, however, Jannaeus seems to use it as a means of indicating his legitimacy as the successor to the now feeble and virtually extinct line of Seleukid kings. It is no accident that the Paleo-Hebrew legend appears alongside the Jewish emblem of the lily while the Greek legend is associated with the anchor.
Estimate: $ 250