Agora Auctions, LLC
Numismatic Auction 72 30 Jan 2018
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Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus. 103-76 B.C.E. AE prutah (16.63 mm, 5.68 g). Jerusalem. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, anchor / Star within diadem. Cf. Hendin 469-72. VF, brown patina. Extremely rare this size.
This is a remarkable, unusually heavy, example of one of the most common ancient Judean coins struck. In 2009, Hendin (The Metrology of Judean Small Bronze Coins, AJN Second Series 21 (2009) pp. 105 121) recorded mass (weight) for 523 examples of this type. Their weights ranged from 0.64 grams to 3.85 grams, with an average weight of 1.71 grams. In spite of previous speculations that large and small examples of identical types represented different denominations, Hendin showed that it was simply a matter of imprecise and/or careless manufacturing and that even coin types with this broad range of weights were intended to represent the same denomination.
Especially interesting is that the diameters of the heaviest coins of each series are not of wider diameter, even though the dies were almost always larger than the planchets upon which they were struck. Instead the variance is in the thickness of the coins. This is due to the method of manufacture. Planchets for these coins were manufactured by drilling shallow holes in chalkstone, and attaching the rows of holes with a chisel. After bronze was cast in these molds, the result was a strip of planchets that were struck, and then chopped apart. None of the mint work behind the Judean bronze coins was precise, and this was also true for making planchets. It seems that occasionally a drill hole was sunk too deeply in the chalkstone, and each planchet subsequently cast from that particular hole was thicker, and thus heavier.
This coin may be the heaviest recorded specimen of the type, exceeding Hendin's heaviest specimen by 1.84 grams or a whopping 48%.
This is a remarkable, unusually heavy, example of one of the most common ancient Judean coins struck. In 2009, Hendin (The Metrology of Judean Small Bronze Coins, AJN Second Series 21 (2009) pp. 105 121) recorded mass (weight) for 523 examples of this type. Their weights ranged from 0.64 grams to 3.85 grams, with an average weight of 1.71 grams. In spite of previous speculations that large and small examples of identical types represented different denominations, Hendin showed that it was simply a matter of imprecise and/or careless manufacturing and that even coin types with this broad range of weights were intended to represent the same denomination.
Especially interesting is that the diameters of the heaviest coins of each series are not of wider diameter, even though the dies were almost always larger than the planchets upon which they were struck. Instead the variance is in the thickness of the coins. This is due to the method of manufacture. Planchets for these coins were manufactured by drilling shallow holes in chalkstone, and attaching the rows of holes with a chisel. After bronze was cast in these molds, the result was a strip of planchets that were struck, and then chopped apart. None of the mint work behind the Judean bronze coins was precise, and this was also true for making planchets. It seems that occasionally a drill hole was sunk too deeply in the chalkstone, and each planchet subsequently cast from that particular hole was thicker, and thus heavier.
This coin may be the heaviest recorded specimen of the type, exceeding Hendin's heaviest specimen by 1.84 grams or a whopping 48%.