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Both coins issued under Jewish authority, and coins relating to Judaea but issued by other authorities are included on this page. This is by no means a comprehensive listing, including only a fraction of types related to Judaea that exist. Over time, many more coin types will be listed here.
In the early sixth century B.C. Judaea was ruled by the Persian Empire, but many of the Jewish people were living as exiles in Babylon. In 538 B.C., the Persian King Cyrus allowed these people to move to Judaea where they lived under Persian rule until Alexander the Great conquered the region in 332 B.C.
The principle coinage used during this period would probably have been the royal Persian silver siglos and gold daric, but we see no evidence that any were minted in Judaea. There is a series of very small silver coins inscribed "Yehud" (the Persian name for Judaea) which appear to have been struck locally with Persian consent.
Alexander the Great annexed Judaea into the Macedonian Kingdom in 332 B.C. Upon his death general Ptolemy was appointed governor of the region and ruled under the name of the Macedonian Kingdom until 305 B.C., when he declared himself king and established the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
During the later years of Alexander's life, and continuing down to 305 B.C., coins based on the Macedonian issues of Alexander were struck at several mints in the region, and probably would have circulated freely in Judaea.
From 305 B.C., down to 198 B.C., Judaea was ruled by the Ptolemies. Coinage of the early Ptolemaic Kingdom would have been circulating in Judaea at this time, and , while none appear to have been minted in Jerusalem, tetradrachms of Ptolemy I to Ptolemy V can be found with mint marks for the surrounding towns of Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais, Joppa and Gaza.
There is also one type of "Yehud" coins (see above under the Persian period), which was struck at this time.
Judaea came under the control of the Seleukid kingdom in 198 B.C. When the Seleukids suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Romans in 188 B.C., their power in the region diminished and the Jewish people began to exert some independence, culminating in the establishment of the Hasmonaean dynasty later in the century. It's hard to identify any coins issued under Jewish authority during this period, but the following coin was probably minted in Jerusalem for the use of the Jewish people.
Antiochos VI, 138-127 BC, 14 mm. bronze. Obverse : A lily. Reverse : An anchor flanked by legends naming Antiochos. This type was probably minted in Jerusalem ca 132 B.C. when Antiochos captured Jerusalem while campaigning in Judaea at the time of Simon Maccabee. While not minted by Jewish authority, this type was used in Judaea and was the prototype for the first issues of Alexander Jannaeus, about 30 years later.
This is the half unit famous Shekel of Tyre that is believe to have been the type of coin used to pay Judas his 30 pieces of silver. This denomination is in it self an important biblical reference type as it the the denomination used in ancient Judaea to pay the temple tax which is also mentioned in the bible.
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Most references describe the reverse of these coins as an wheel with eight spokes, but Ya'akov Meshorer, in ANCIENT JEWISH COINAGE, Volume 1, page 61, clearly demonstrates that this is really a eight pointed star within a diadem. He goes on to point out that the diadem is a Hellenistic symbol of Kingship ship, and that the star may derive from the Song of Balaam which states " There shall come a start out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24:17), so the iconology makes perfect sense for this coin.
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In 40 B.C., Judaea was ruled by John Hyrcanus II, who was subservient to Rome. Mattathias Antigonos, son of Aristobulus II, nephew of John Hyrcanus II and great-great-grandnephew of Judah Maccabee was unhappy with this and had a claim to the throne. He enlisted the aid of the Parthian king Orodes II to invade Jerusalem and help him win the position of High Priest. In response to this Rome backed Herod as king of the Jews and aided him in a war against Mattathias. In 37 B.C. Mattathias was defeated and the Hasmonaean Dynasty came to an end.
With the help of the Romans, Herod the Great defeated Mattathias Antigonos in 37 B.C., ending the rule of the Hasmonaean Dynasty.The power of the Herodian Dynasty was based on their ties to Rome and they ruled Judaea, including the city of Jerusalem, until 6 AD when Archelaus fell from favour and was banished. The Herodian dynasty did not end there, as Antipas and his descendants continued to rule the territories of Galilee and Perea (Jewish Transjordan), but after 6 AD Jerusalem and Judaea came under the rule of the Roman Procurators, who reported to the Roman Governor of Syria.
Herod Archelaus is biblically recorded as King of Judaea at the time of Christ's birth, traditionally thought of as having occurred in AD 1. A careful reading of the bible, when correlated with other information known about the history of the period, suggests a date closer to 7 BC, when Herod the Great was King of Judaea.
King Herod is one of the most well known figures of antiquity. From the Bible, the writings of Josephus and numerous ancient sources a wealth of information has come down to us about him. Though the Bible paints him as a villain, he presided over the golden age of Judaean power and engineered enormous building projects including the Second Temple, the port of Caesarea, the fortress of Masada and numerous other projects. A passionate, learned and ruthless man, he ruled for 33 years before dying of disease in 4 BC.
The bible records that Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt upon learning that all babies under the age of two were to be killed, and returned two years later after Herod's death. If the Herod referred to was Herod Archelaus, then they returned about AD 6 and must have fled about AD 4 when Christ was 4 years old and not subject to the edict.
If we place the birth at about 7 B.C., and assume Christ may have been as much as 2 years old when they fled (the bible actually says nothing about this. but why the edict that all under the age of two be killed?), then they fled about 5 B.C and returned about 3 B.C., the year after Herod the Great's death, which all fits quite nicely.
Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great and son of Aristobulus. Educated in Roman, he was favored by Caligula, who granted him rule of the northern part of Judaea, and then by Claudius who gave him rule of all of Judaea. The dates on his coins are from the start of Claudius' reign.
After the banishment of Herod Archelaus, Judaea was ruled by a series of Procurators appointed by Rome but who reported to the Governor of Syria. Any of the coins of the Procurators, struck before AD 32, can be considered as examples of the 'WIDOWS MITE" described in the Bible. Coins of this series tend to be poorly struck and poorly preserved.
Pontius Pilate, Procurater of Judaea under Tiberius, 26-36 A.D., ruled Judaea during the Ministry of Christ and ordered his crucifixion. These coins are the type that would have been In common everyday use at the time. Note that the images are somewhat enlarged.
Unhappy with the rule of the Roman Procurators, the Judaeans rose up in open revolt in AD 66. The revolt withstood the Romans for several years (not a small thing), but in AD 70 Titus (son of Vespasian and himself future emperor) was sent to put and end to it. Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple was destroyed. During this period, the Jewish people struck a number of types of coins, and afte wards, the Romans struck the Judea Capta series to commemorate their victory.
The various historical sources differ as to the specific provocation which sparked the
Second Jewish Revolt. Dio Cassius cites Hadrian's foundation of a Roman colony, Aelia Capitolina, at Jerusalem, involving the blasphemy of a shrine of Jupiter Capitolinus on
the ruins of the Herodian Temple; however Jewish sources suggest this occurred only after
the revolt. Hadrian's biographer Spartianus blames his prohibition of circumcision.
One of the Midrashim suggests that Hadrian had promised to rebuild the Temple, then after preparations were well under way reneged because of complaints from the Samaritans.
Whether any or all of these events provided a cue for the revolt, its real character was
not that of a protest but of a messianic national movement.
The Judaeans led by Shim'on Ben Cosiba, revolted against Roman authority. After a bitter three-year war, the Judaeans were finally defeated.
The program of the revolt is plainly announced on it's coinage. First of course is the recovery of national sovereignty, implied by the very act of minting precious metal coinage
and blazoned forth by the legends proclaiming redemption and freedom. The second goal was the reconstruction of the Temple at Jerusalem and the restoration of its rituals, upon which the spiritual and material well being of the nation of Israel were believed to depend.
The tetradrachm, the most impressive denomination of this series, bears the heart of this propaganda messagethe dramatic image of the Herodian Temple destroyed by Titus, which must
be rebuilt to return God's grace to Israel. The reverse shows a lulay, a bundle of palm,
myrtle and willow branches, and an etrog or citron fruit, both used to pray for rain at the autumn festival, Sukkot. This superb specimen of the most celebrated prototype of the Second
Revolt coinage shows distinct traces of the underlying Roman type of the Syrian provincial issue on which it was, overstruck: profile of emperor's head on the obverse and eagle's wing
on the reverse.
To finance the war, the forces of Shim'on Ben Cosiba minted coins consisting of Silver tetradrachms, denarii and assorted bronzes. Due to a shortage of metal, probably a shortage of time, and possibly as an affront to the Romans, the silver coins were usually overstruck on earlier Roman coins.
Silver Denarius of 2nd Revolt:
Plautius was a commander in Pompey's army when Aristobulus II was captured by Pompey following the seige of Jerusalem in 63 BC. The identity of Bacchius is uncertain, as there is no record of him except for this coin type, but the reference to the subjugation of Judaea is clear and it is possible that Bacchius refers to Aristobulus II.
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