I recently acquired an interesting
prutah of Herod I, pictured below, from
FORVM.
The coin measures 13.90 mm in
diameter and weighs 1.31 grams, both within acceptable ranges for
prutah of Herod I.
The
obverse displays a crudely cut
anchor with crossbar and loop at the top. The cornucopias on the
reverse side are extremely crude,
as is the
caduceus between them. The description stated that the coin is
anepigraphic (i.e., no legends) which would make it H6220b, as it was attributed in the
FORVM listing.
However, in both the pictures from
FORVM and after examining the coin in hand, on the
obverse just to the left of the
anchor's top
bar I see what to my eyes is "ω", along with possible traces of other letters (i.e., ΗΡ) to the left of that. And to the right of the
anchor top, is what may be "Β", and possibly additional letters following. Assuming these are letters forming a
legend, that makes the
attribution H6219e.
I'm OK with either attribution, as I bought it strictly for the extreme crudeness of the design. Hendin lists 6219e as being "extremely crude" and 6220b as "quite crude". This coin certainly fits either/both of those descriptions, heavily leaning towards the "extreme" category. The "workmanship" on the
reverse die is far cruder than is seen on any of the images in either
Hendin's
GBC6 or
Meshorer's
TJC.
FORVM’s description contained the following sentiment: “This
type is remarkably crude. It is difficult to believe that it was struck at the official
mint in Jerusalem.” I agree that it is difficult to believe the
mint in Jerusalem would employ such an unskilled engraver as most of their output is of a higher overall
quality.
So could it have been produced at a different mint/location (authorized or otherwise) whose engravers were not of the same caliber as those at the
mint in Jerusalem? Besides
Sebaste and possibly Trachonitis, what other locations were known/thought to have minted coins for use in
Judaea during the period of Herod’s rule?
Thoughts....comments....?
