Coins and Antiquities Consignment Shop
  Welcome To Forum Ancient Coins!!! All Items Purchased From Forum Ancient Coins Are Guaranteed Authentic For Eternity!!! Please Call Us If You Have Questions 252-646-1958 or 252-497-2724 Expert Authentication - Accurate Descriptions - Reasonable Prices - Coins From Under $10 To Museum Quality Rarities Welcome To Forum Ancient Coins!!! All Items Purchased From Forum Ancient Coins Are Guaranteed Authentic For Eternity!!! Internet Challenged? We Are Happy To Take Your Order Over The Phone 252-646-1958 Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!!

×Catalog Main Menu
Fine Coins Showcase

Antiquities Showcase
New & Reduced


Show Empty Categories
Shop Search
Shopping Cart
My FORVM
Contact Us
About Forum
Shopping at Forum
Our Guarantee
Payment Options
Shipping Options & Fees
Privacy & Security
Forum Staff
Selling Your Coins
Identifying Your Coin
FAQs
zoom.asp
   View Categories
Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Judaea & Palestine||View Options:  |  |  |   

Ancient coins of Judaea and Palestine

Coins of Judaea and Palestine are also presented in our Judean and Biblical catalog section. Here all coins of Judaea and Palestine are grouped together. In our Judean and Biblical catalog section coins are organized by types and rulers and are presented with additional historical information and biblical references.

Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285 - 246 B.C.

|Greek| |Domination|, |Ptolemaic| |Kingdom| |of| |Egypt,| |Ptolemy| |II| |Philadelphos,| |285| |-| |246| |B.C.||diobol|
Ptolemais is today Acre, Israel. It was at Ptolemais that the Jews met Petronius, sent to set up statues of the emperor in the Temple, and persuaded him to turn back. St. Paul spent a day in Ptolemais (Acts 21:7). -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akko
GP113579. Bronze diobol, Lorber CPE B338; Svoronos 790 (5 spec.); Rosenberger I p.20, 16; Sofaer pl. 3, 36; Weiser 42; SNG Cop -; Noeske –, Choice VF, green patina, earthen deposits, areas of weaker strike, marks, obv. edge beveled, weight 19.353 g, maximum diameter 31.7 mm, die axis 0o, Galilee, Ake Ptolemais (Acre, Israel) mint, 261 - 246 B.C.; obverse diademed head of Zeus Ammon right; reverse ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, eagle standing half left atop fulmen (thunderbolt), head left, wings closed, double cornucopia bound with diadem over shoulder, Pi-Tau ligate inside Omicron (PTO - Ptolemais mintmark) in field; scarce; $800.00 (€752.00)
 


Judaea, Bar Kochba Revolt, 132 - 135 A.D.

|Bar| |Kochba|, |Judaea,| |Bar| |Kochba| |Revolt,| |132| |-| |135| |A.D.||AE| |18|
This obverse die type, naming Eleazar the priest, was used in the first year of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 - 133 A.D.), but on this rare type it is combined with an undated reverse attribute to the third year (134 - 135 A.D.).
JD113060. Bronze AE 18, Mildenberg 155 (04/R4); Hendin 6465 (R); Meshorer TJC 300; Sofaer Collection 164; Bromberg 262, VF, tight flan, highlighting earthen deposits, weight 3.188 g, maximum diameter 16.7 mm, die axis 180o, undated, attributed to year 3, 134 - 135 A.D.; obverse seven-branched palm tree with two bunches of dates; Paleo-Hebrew inscription irregularly arranged across field: "Eleazar the priest"; reverse Paleo-Hebrew inscription: "For the freedom of Jerusalem", bunch of grapes with branch and small leaf; rare; $650.00 (€611.00)
 


Phoenician, Bronze Trapezoid Cube Weight (Ayin - 21.595g), c. 7th - 4th Century B.C.

|Weights| |&| |Scales|, |Phoenician,| |Bronze| |Trapezoid| |Cube| |Weight| |(Ayin| |-| |21.595g),| |c.| |7th| |-| |4th| |Century| |B.C.|
This weight is the usual shape for the type, an inverted truncated pyramid - a cube with the bottom slightly smaller than the top. The type dates from perhaps as early as the the 9th century B.C. to the end of the Persian period. They were undoubtedly used to weigh silver bullion for transactions. Kletter lists nine weights with circle marks, ranging from 2.55g to 80.67g. Some, like ours, were incised with straight lines or punches. Most were found at Akko.
AS111486. Phoenician, bronze trapezoid cube weight; cf. Hendin Weights 245 (21.63), Kletter 2000 25 (21.17g), Hecht A 47 (20.03g), Choice, 21.595g (3 shekels?), 14.3x16.6x12.9mm, c. 7th - 4th Century B.C.; inverted truncated pyramid (a cube with the bottom slightly smaller than the top), incised circle (Phoenician ayin) on top created with a 8 short straight line cuts, ex Shick Coins (Max Shick, Israel, 2012); $570.00 (€535.80)
 


Judaea, Bar Kochba Revolt, 132 - 135 A.D.

|Bar| |Kochba|, |Judaea,| |Bar| |Kochba| |Revolt,| |132| |-| |135| |A.D.||AE| |21|
After the defeat of Bar Kochba rebellion, Judea would not be a center of Jewish religious, cultural, or political life again until the modern era, although Jews continued to sporadically populate it and important religious developments still took place there. Galilee became an important center of Rabbinic Judaism, where the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the 4th-5th centuries. In the aftermath of the defeat, the maintenance of Jewish settlement in Palestine became a major concern of the rabbinate. The Sages endeavored to halt Jewish dispersal, and even banned emigration from Palestine, branding those who settled outside its borders as idolaters.
JD99307. Bronze AE 21, Mildenberg 112 (O10/R76); SNG ANS 570 - 572 (same dies); cf. BMC Palestine p. 307, 31; Sofaer 144; Meshorer TJC 292a; Hendin 6464, VF, dark green patina, earthen deposits, tight flan, small edge cracks, weight 7.709 g, maximum diameter 21.0 mm, die axis 180o, year 3, 134 - 135 A.D.; obverse paleo-Hebrew inscription: "Shimon", seven branched palm tree with two bunches of dates; reverse paleo-Hebrew inscription: "for the freedom of Jerusalem", five-lobed vine-leaf with strongly accentuated ribs, hanging from curved branch, short tendril right; from a private collector in New Jersey; $560.00 (€526.40)
 


Persian Empire, Samaria, c. 375 - 332 B.C.

|Persian| |Rule|, |Persian| |Empire,| |Samaria,| |c.| |375| |-| |332| |B.C.||ma'ah-obol|
Samaria was the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th - 8th centuries B.C. The Assyrians took the city and the northern kingdom in 722/721 B.C. The city did not recover until the Persian period, the mid 5th century. The tensions between the ruling Sanballat family and Jerusalem under the governorship of Nehemiah are documented in the Bible (Ezra 4:10, Neh 4:7–8). Samaria became Hellenistic in 332 B.C. Thousands of Macedonian soldiers were settled there following a revolt. The Judaean king John Hyrcanus destroyed Samaria in 108 B.C., but it was resettled under Alexander Jannaeus. In 63 B.C., Samaria was annexed to the Roman province of Syria. Herod the Great fortified the city and renamed it Sebaste. The ruins are located in the Samaria mountains almost 10 km to the northwest of Nablus.
JD110671. Silver ma'ah-obol, Meshorer-Qedar 20, Sofaer 43, Sunrise 139, Hendin -, SNG ANS -, HGC 10 -, gVF, toned, obv. off center, tight flan, weight 0.640 g, maximum diameter 9.7 mm, die axis 0o, Samaria (Sebastia, West Bank) mint, c. 375 - 332 B.C.; obverse head of satrap left, bearded, wearing kyrbasia (Persian tiara); reverse Persian king on right, standing left, fighting winged beast, he holds the animal’s head in his right hand and dagger in his left hand, Aramaic SMRYN in right field; ex Gorny & Mosch auction 289 (10-11 Oct 2022), lot 449; ex Gert Cleff Collection (Wuppertal); ex Numismatica Ars Classica (Zurich) auction 64 (2012), lot 1609; rare; $550.00 (€517.00)
 


Judaea, Bar Kochba Revolt, 132 - 135 A.D.

|Bar| |Kochba|, |Judaea,| |Bar| |Kochba| |Revolt,| |132| |-| |135| |A.D.||AE| |27|
The Bar Kokhba revolt, led by Simon bar Kokhba, was the last of the major Jewish–Roman wars. The Roman army suffered heavy losses. It took six full legions, auxiliaries, and elements from as many as six more legions three years to crush the revolt. The Romans annihilated much of the Judean population. In 134, the they captured Jerusalem and Simon bar Kokhba was killed in 135. Legio VI Ferrata rebuilt the legionary fortress in Jerusalem and constructed a Roman temple at Golgotha. An altar to Jupiter was erected on the site of the Temple. The Jewish diaspora began as Hadrian barred Jews from Jerusalem and had survivors of the massacre dispersed across the Roman Empire. Many were sold into slavery. The Jewish people remained scattered without a homeland for close to two millennia.
JD113058. Bronze AE 27, Mildenberg 42 (O1/R9); Sofaer p. 177 & pl. 227, 7; Hendin 6407(b?); SNG ANS 508; Meshorer TJC 222; BMC Palestine p. 305, 23, aVF, overstruck (perhaps on a coin with a Legion X countermark?), some corrosion/encrustation, weight 12.793 g, maximum diameter 26.7 mm, die axis 135o, year 1, 132 - 133 A.D.; obverse even branched palm tree with two bunches of dates; Paleo-Hebrew inscription across fields: "Simon Prince of Israel"; reverse Paleo-Hebrew inscription: "Year one for the redemption of Israel", vine leaf on tendril; rare; $550.00 (€517.00)
 


Persian Empire, Gaza, Philistia, c. 353 - 331 B.C., Imitative of Athens Pi-Style

|Persian| |Rule|, |Persian| |Empire,| |Gaza,| |Philistia,| |c.| |353| |-| |331| |B.C.,| |Imitative| |of| |Athens| |Pi-Style||quarter| |shekel|
The Aramaic letter Mem is the symbol of Marnas, deity of Gaza. We are uncertain of the meaning of the additional (unpublished) letters. This type and other similar silver types struck under Persian rule are often described as drachms but we follow Hendin who refers to the local coinage of Philistia, Samaria and Yehud with the names that might have been used at the time they circulated. This type can be dated to about a 20 year period. It imitates the "Pi-Style" tetradrachms first struck at Athens in 353 B.C. and would not have been struck after Alexander the Great's conquest of Gaza in 331 B.C.
GS114669. Silver quarter shekel, Apparently unpublished variant; cf. Gitler & Tal V.25D, Hendin 6010 (RR), HGC 10 542 (R2) (all without Aramaic on rev.), gVF, toned, centered on a tight oval flan, porous, weight 4.143 g, maximum diameter 15.4 mm, die axis 270o, Gaza mint, c. 353 - 331 B.C.; obverse helmeted head of Athena right, with profile eye, olive leaves and pi-style floral ornament on crested helmet, large round earring, Aramaic mem on cheek; reverse owl standing right, head facing, olive spray and crescent upper left, AΘE downward on right, all within incuse square, Aramaic shin aleph lower inner left, Aramaic mem outer right (mostly off flan); ex CNG mail bid auction 84 (5 May 2010), lot 737 (part of); ex Dr. Patrick H.C. Tan Collection; extremely rare; $500.00 (€470.00) ON RESERVE


Judaea, Bar Kochba Revolt, 132 - 135 A.D.

|Bar| |Kochba|, |Judaea,| |Bar| |Kochba| |Revolt,| |132| |-| |135| |A.D.||AE| |26|
The Bar Kokhba revolt, led by Simon bar Kokhba, was the last of the major Jewish–Roman wars. The Roman army suffered heavy losses. It took six full legions, auxiliaries, and elements from as many as six more legions three years to crush the revolt. The Romans annihilated much of the Judean population. In 134, the they captured Jerusalem and Simon bar Kokhba was killed in 135. Legio VI Ferrata rebuilt the legionary fortress in Jerusalem and constructed a Roman temple at Golgotha. An altar to Jupiter was erected on the site of the Temple. The Jewish diaspora began as Hadrian barred Jews from Jerusalem and had survivors of the massacre dispersed across the Roman Empire. Many were sold into slavery. The Jewish people remained scattered without a homeland for close to two millennia.
JD113057. Bronze AE 26, cf. Mildenberg 72; BMC Palestine p. 308, 48; Sofaer 70; Meshorer TJC p. 250, 260; Hendin 6436 (S), F, dark green patina, highlighting earthen deposits, areas of weak strike, pre-strike(?) flan marks, weight 12.580 g, maximum diameter 25.5 mm, die axis 180o, year 2, 133 - 134 A.D.; obverse Paleo-Hebrew inscription: "S-M/A" (abbreviating Simon), seven branched palm tree with two bunches of dates; reverse Paleo-Hebrew inscription: "Year 2 of the freedom of Israel", vine leaf on tendril; $460.00 (€432.40)
 


Judaea, Bar Kochba Revolt, 132 - 135 A.D.

|Bar| |Kochba|, |Judaea,| |Bar| |Kochba| |Revolt,| |132| |-| |135| |A.D.||AE| |27|
After the defeat of Bar Kochba rebellion, Judea would not be a center of Jewish religious, cultural, or political life again until the modern era, although Jews continued to sporadically populate it and important religious developments still took place there. Galilee became an important center of Rabbinic Judaism, where the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the 4th-5th centuries. In the aftermath of the defeat, the maintenance of Jewish settlement in Palestine became a major concern of the rabbinate. The Sages endeavored to halt Jewish dispersal, and even banned emigration from Palestine, branding those who settled outside its borders as idolaters.
JD111103. Bronze AE 27, Mildenberg 106 (O08/R70); cf. Meshorer TJC 292; BMC Palestine p. 312, 80; SNG ANS 572; Hendin 6464, F, uneven strike with some legend unstruck, weight 10.386 g, maximum diameter 24.8 mm, die axis 180o, year 3, 134 - 135 A.D.; obverse paleo-Hebrew inscription: "Shimon", seven branched palm tree with two bunches of dates; reverse paleo-Hebrew inscription: "for the freedom of Jerusalem", five-lobed vine-leaf with strongly accentuated ribs, hanging from curved branch, short tendril right; $430.00 (€404.20)
 


Persian Empire, Samaria, c. 375 - 332 B.C.

|Persian| |Rule|, |Persian| |Empire,| |Samaria,| |c.| |375| |-| |332| |B.C.||ma'ah-obol|
Samaria was the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th - 8th centuries B.C. The Assyrians took the city and the northern kingdom in 722/721 B.C. The city did not recover until the Persian period, the mid 5th century. The tensions between the ruling Sanballat family and Jerusalem under the governorship of Nehemiah are documented in the Bible (Ezra 4:10, Neh 4:7–8). Samaria became Hellenistic in 332 B.C. Thousands of Macedonian soldiers were settled there following a revolt. The Judaean king John Hyrcanus destroyed Samaria in 108 B.C., but it was resettled under Alexander Jannaeus. In 63 B.C., Samaria was annexed to the Roman province of Syria. Herod the Great fortified the city and renamed it Sebaste. The ruins are located in the Samaria mountains almost 10 km to the northwest of Nablus.
GS110668. Silver ma'ah-obol, Meshorer-Qedar 188, Sofaer 165, HGC 10 -, Sunrise -, Hendin -, SNG ANS -, VF, centered, toned, light marks, die break upper reverse, weight 0.614 g, maximum diameter 9.7 mm, die axis 180o, Samaria (Sebastia, West Bank) mint, c. 375 - 332 B.C.; obverse head of the satrap right, bearded, wearing Kyrbasia (Persian tiara); reverse head right, bare-headed, bearded; ex Gorny & Mosch auction 289 (10 Oct 2022), lot 422; ex Gert Cleff Collection (Wuppertal); ex Italo Vecchi (London) auction 10 (24-25 Mar 1998), lot 436; rare; $400.00 (€376.00)
 




  



CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE FROM THIS CATEGORY - FORVM's PRIOR SALES


REFERENCES

Archaeological Center. Auction No. 34: The Arnold Spaer Collection of Ancient Jewish Coins. Catalog of public auction Tel-Aviv, 5 October 2004.
Ariel, D. & J. Fontanille. The Coins of Herod: A Modern Analysis and Die Classification. (Leiden, 2012).
Baramki, D. The Coin Collection of the American University of Beirut Museum. (Beirut, 1974).
Brett, A. "Mint of Ascalon under the Seleucids" in ANSMN IV. (New York, 1950). Burnett, A., M. Amandry, et al. Roman Provincial Coinage. (1992 - ).
Fontanille, J. Menorah Coin Project Website. http://menorahcoinproject.org.
Fontanille, J. & S. Gosline. The Coins of Pontius Pilate. (PA, 2001).
Gitler, H. & O. Tal. The Coinage of Philistia of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC: A Study of the Earliest Coins of Palestine. (Milan & New York, 2006).
Gitler, H., O. Tal, & P. van Alfen. "Silver Dome-shaped Coins from Persian-period Southern Palestine" in INR 2 (2007), pp. 47 - 62, pls. 5-12.
Hamburger, H. "Minute coins from Caesarea" in ATIQOT - Journal of The Israel Dept. of Antiquities, Volume I. (Jerusalem, 1955).
Harl, K. "The Coinage of Neapolis in Samaria" in ANSMN 29 (1984), pp. 61–97, pl. 6-15.
Hendin, D. Guide to Biblical Coins, 6th Edition. (Amphora, 2021).
Heritage Auctions. The Shoshana Collection of Ancient Judaean Coins. The history of the Jewish people as told through coins. Catalog of public auction, 8 March 2012. New York. 2012.
Heritage Auctions. The Shoshana Collection of Ancient Judaean Coins. Coins, Culture and Conflict in the Ancient Holy Land. Catalog of public auction, 5 September 2012. New York. 2012.
Hill, G. Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum: Palestine. (London, 1914).
Hoover, O. Handbook of Coins of the Southern Levant: Phoenicia, Southern Koile Syria (Including Judaea), and Arabia, Fifth to First Centuries BC. HGC 10. (Lancaster, 2010).
Houghton, A., C. Lorber & O. Hoover. Seleucid Coins: A Comprehensive Catalog. (Lancaster, 2002-2008).
Kadman, L. The Coins of Aelia Capitolina. (Jerusalem, 1956).
Kadman, L. The Coinage of Akko Ptolemais. (Jerusalem, 1961).
Kadman, L. The Coinage of Caesarea Maritima. (Jerusalem, 1957).
Kindler, A. "The Coins of Antipatris" in INJ 11 (1990-91).
Kindler, A. "The Coins of the City of Gaba" in B. Mazar (ed.), Gaba - Archaeological Discoveries in Tel Abu-Shusha/Mishmar Ha-Emek. (Tel-Aviv, 1988), p. 64 - 65.
Kindler, A. The Coins of Tiberias. (Tiberias, 1961).
Meshorer, Y. Ancient Jewish Coinage. (New York, 1982).
Meshorer, Y. A Treasury of Jewish Coins from the Persian Period to Bar Kokhba. (Jerusalem, 2001).
Meshorer, Y. City-Coins of Eretz Israel and the Decapolis in the Roman Period. (Jerusalem, 1985).
Meshorer, Y. "One Hundred Ninety Years of Tyrian Shekels" in Studies Mildenberg.
Meshorer, Y. Jewish Coins of the Second Temple Period. (Tel-Aviv, 1967).
Meshorer, Y. The Coins of Aelia Capitolina. (Jerusalem, 1989).
Meshorer, Y. "The Coins of Caesarea Paneas" in INJ 8 (1984-5).
Meshorer, Y. "The Coins of Dora" in INJ 9 (1986).
Meshorer, Y. "Monnaies de Raphia" in RN 1976.
Meshorer, Y. and S. Qedar. The Coinage of Samaria in the 4th Century BCE. (Jerusalem, 1991).
Meshorer, Y. and S. Qedar. Samarian Coinage. (Jerusalem, 1999).
Mildenberg, L. The Coinage of the Bar Kokhba War. Typos VI. (Aarau, 1984).
Mildenberg, L. "Yehud: A Preliminary Study of the Provincial Coinage of Judaea" in Essays Thompson. (Wetteren, 1979).
Prieur, M. & K. Prieur. The Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and their fractions from 57 BC to AD 258. (Lancaster, PA, 2000).
Rosenberger, M. The Rosenberger Israel Collection Vol. I: City-Coins of Palestine: Aelia Kapitolina, Akko, Anthedon Antipatirs and Ascalon. (Jerusalem, 1972).
Rosenberger, M. The Rosenberger Israel Collection Vol. II: City-Coins of Palestine: Caesarea, Diospolis, Dora, Eleutheropolis, Gaba, Gaza and Joppa. (Jerusalem, 1975).
Rosenberger, M. The Rosenberger Israel Collection Vol. III: City-Coins of Palestine: Hipos-Sussita, Neapolis, Nicopolis, Nysa-Scytopolis, Caesarea-Panias, Pelusium, Raphia, Sabaste, Sepphoris-Diocaesarea, Tiberias. (Jerusalem, 1977).
Rosenberger, M. The Rosenberger Israel Collection Vol. IV: The Coinage of Eastern Palestine, and legionary countermarks, Bar-Kochba overstruck. (Jerusalem, 1978).
RPC Online - http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/
Samuels, C., P. Rynearson & Y. Meshorer. The Numismatic Legacy of the Jews as depicted by a distinguished American Collection. (New York, 2000).
Sear, D. Greek Coins and Their Values, Volume 2, Asia and Africa. (London, 1979).
Sear, D. Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values. (London, 1982).
Spijkerman, A. The Coins of the Decapolis and Provincia Arabia. (Jerusalem, 1978).
Superior Galleries & Leu Numismatics. The Abraham Bromberg Collection of Jewish Coins. 2 parts. Catalogs of public auctions, 5 December 1991 and 10 December 1992. New York.
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Volume 7: Cyprus to India. (West Milford, NJ, 1982).
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, USA, The Collection of the American Numismatic Society, Part 6: Palestine - South Arabia. (New York, 1981).
van Alfen, P. "A New Athenian "Owl" and Bullion Hoard from the Near East" in AJN 16-17. (2004-2005).
Yashin, C. From Ascalon to Raphia: City Coins of the Southern Palestinian Coast. (Jerusalem, 2007).

Catalog current as of Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Page created in 1.422 seconds.
All coins are guaranteed for eternity