Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG
Auction 334 17 Mar 2020
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Coins of the Hasmonaean Dynasty (135/129 – 37 BCE).
John Hyrcanus I, 135-104 BCE. Æ-Double Prutah, Jerusalem (Samaria?); 4,50 g. YHWH[dot below]NN HKHN HGDL R'Š H[dot below]BR HYHWDYM (Yehohanan the High Priest and head of the Jews' Council) around two slightly overlaid cornucopia adorned with ribbons//A Macedonian helmet with a conspicuous crest and cheek guards to r., in the lower l. field the Greek character Δ is visible. Hendin no. 1136; Meshorer, Treasury 207 Group H.
An extremely rare coin in an extraordinary beautiful state of preservation. Fine/very fine
Overbeck – Meshorer no. 67.
Cf. Meshorer, Treasury 36, where he characterises the helmet as a symbol of leadership and authority and asked the question whether it had to do with John's new title of R'Š H[dot below]B R HYHWDYM. Ch.-G. Schwentzel, Images du pouvoir et fonctions des souverains Hasmonéens, Revue Biblique 2009, 368-386, esp. 371 f. may be right, when he underlines that the helmet should be interpreted as a reference to the modern hellenistic weaponry of John's Jewish army and to the king's successful expansion that made him into a new David whose identification mark was the helmet. We may assume that this coin is a ,historical coin' minted for a specific event in John's life. Cf. also Lykke 40, who discusses the problem whether the coin should be attributed to Hyrcanus II. and D.M. Jacobson, Military Symbols on the Coins of John Hyrcanus I., Strata: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 31, 2013, 25-38.
John Hyrcanus I, 135-104 BCE. Æ-Double Prutah, Jerusalem (Samaria?); 4,50 g. YHWH[dot below]NN HKHN HGDL R'Š H[dot below]BR HYHWDYM (Yehohanan the High Priest and head of the Jews' Council) around two slightly overlaid cornucopia adorned with ribbons//A Macedonian helmet with a conspicuous crest and cheek guards to r., in the lower l. field the Greek character Δ is visible. Hendin no. 1136; Meshorer, Treasury 207 Group H.
An extremely rare coin in an extraordinary beautiful state of preservation. Fine/very fine
Overbeck – Meshorer no. 67.
Cf. Meshorer, Treasury 36, where he characterises the helmet as a symbol of leadership and authority and asked the question whether it had to do with John's new title of R'Š H[dot below]B R HYHWDYM. Ch.-G. Schwentzel, Images du pouvoir et fonctions des souverains Hasmonéens, Revue Biblique 2009, 368-386, esp. 371 f. may be right, when he underlines that the helmet should be interpreted as a reference to the modern hellenistic weaponry of John's Jewish army and to the king's successful expansion that made him into a new David whose identification mark was the helmet. We may assume that this coin is a ,historical coin' minted for a specific event in John's life. Cf. also Lykke 40, who discusses the problem whether the coin should be attributed to Hyrcanus II. and D.M. Jacobson, Military Symbols on the Coins of John Hyrcanus I., Strata: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 31, 2013, 25-38.