Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG
Auction 334 17 Mar 2020
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Herodian Dynasty, 40 BCE-96 CE.
Herod the Great, 40/37-4 BCE. Æ-8 Prutot, year 3 = 40 BCE, Samaria; 5,80 g. Helmet with cheek pieces, star on the top and two strips (of a diadem) hanging down in frontal view, flanked by palm fronds//HPΩΔΟΥ ΒΑ†ΙΛΕΩ† around tripod with vessel (lebes), in the l. field L Γ, in the r. field monogram (XP or TR). Hendin no. 1169; Lykke 237 fig. 35; Meshorer, Treasury 221 no. 44.
Very fine
Overbeck – Meshorer no. 79.
Lykke 67-71 does not accept the commonly heard identification of this helmet which is adorned with a star with a pilos, the famous cap of the Dioscuri. She rather thinks that we are shown Herod's personal helmet and that Herod wanted to insert himself into the tradition of Alexander and the Hellenistic kings who presented themselves helmeted or had their helmets depicted on coins. This may be right, but we should also consider whether this helmet should represent King David's famous helmet that could have had the symbolic power to awaken ideas of a new Jewish Empire. Cf. D.J. Jacobson, Military Helmet or Dioscuri Motif on Herod the Great's Largest Coin?, Israel Numismatic Review 2, 2007, 93-101.
Herod the Great, 40/37-4 BCE. Æ-8 Prutot, year 3 = 40 BCE, Samaria; 5,80 g. Helmet with cheek pieces, star on the top and two strips (of a diadem) hanging down in frontal view, flanked by palm fronds//HPΩΔΟΥ ΒΑ†ΙΛΕΩ† around tripod with vessel (lebes), in the l. field L Γ, in the r. field monogram (XP or TR). Hendin no. 1169; Lykke 237 fig. 35; Meshorer, Treasury 221 no. 44.
Very fine
Overbeck – Meshorer no. 79.
Lykke 67-71 does not accept the commonly heard identification of this helmet which is adorned with a star with a pilos, the famous cap of the Dioscuri. She rather thinks that we are shown Herod's personal helmet and that Herod wanted to insert himself into the tradition of Alexander and the Hellenistic kings who presented themselves helmeted or had their helmets depicted on coins. This may be right, but we should also consider whether this helmet should represent King David's famous helmet that could have had the symbolic power to awaken ideas of a new Jewish Empire. Cf. D.J. Jacobson, Military Helmet or Dioscuri Motif on Herod the Great's Largest Coin?, Israel Numismatic Review 2, 2007, 93-101.