Ancient Jewish Coins

Although the Persian province of Yehud minted its own coins in the mid-fourth century BCE, it would be another two hundred years before the next series of Jewish coins was issued. The first batch was produced by John Hyrcanus I in the late second century BCE. Hyrcanus (r. 134–104 BCE) initiated a number of iconographic traditions that had a lasting impact on Hasmonean and Herodian coinage.

Hasmonean coins were characterized by a blend of Jewish and Greek motifs, but unlike contemporary Hellenistic coinage, they lacked figurative images. Thus, instead of the usual portrait of the king, Hyrcanus I’s coins depicted a wreath enclosing a Paleo-Hebrew inscription: “Yehoḥanan, high priest, and the council of the Jews.” The term ḥever ha-yehudim (“council of the Jews”) occurs only on Hasmonean coinage, but it remains unclear whether this ḥever was a well-defined institution or a generic term referring to Jewish subjects as a whole. On the reverse were two cornucopias joined at the base, with a pomegranate between them, referring, perhaps, to the prosperity of the Hasmonean kingdom. While the cornucopia was borrowed from Greek iconography, the overall design was specifically Hasmonean.

Alexander Janneus (r. 103–76 BCE) carried forward the traditions introduced by his father, but he also minted many new coin types and introduced new iconography, such as the anchor and the eight-pointed star wrapped within a diadem. Once again, we see the fusion or reinterpretation of Greek symbols. Among the Hasmonean rulers, Alexander Janneus was the most prolific in the minting of coins, with some remaining in circulation well into the first century CE. He was the first Hasmonean to strike bilingual coins—Hebrew and Greek—and to use the title of king in this medium. On some coins, Alexander Janneus highlighted his other important office, namely that of high priest, and included references to the ḥever (council) of the Jews, as his father had before him.

The last Hasmonean to mint coins was Antigonus Mattathias (r. 40–37 BCE). His coins carried epithets referring to him as high priest (in Hebrew) and king (in Greek) and continued to depict the traditional double cornucopia, as was common on Hasmonean coins. Some of his coins portrayed Temple objects, a unique feature among Jewish coins from antiquity; this coin series may have been minted as a form of propaganda during Antigonus’ war with Herod in the early 40s BCE.

Herod the Great (r. 37–4 BCE) struck various coin types, some of which displayed the same symbols that appeared on Hasmonean issues, such as the cornucopia, no doubt intended to legitimize his kingship and to create a line of continuity with the Hasmonean dynasty. Some of his coin series, however, depicted Roman cultic objects, perhaps because they were intended for circulation among the gentile population. One Herodian coin type displayed an eagle, which may have been connected with the incident of the golden eagle hung by the Temple portal (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 17.151–152). Other symbols included a shield, a tripod, and an X (or Greek letter chi) wrapped within a diadem. In a major departure from earlier locally produced coinage, Herod used only Greek on his coins.

After Herod’s death, most of the kingdom was split among three of his sons. The coins of Herod Archelaus (r. 4 BCE–6 CE) and Herod Antipas (r. 4 BCE–39 CE) highlighted the new, diminished status of the two rulers, who were identified respectively as ethnarch and tetrarch. Their coins also continued the aniconic tradition and the exclusive use of Greek. Some of Herod’s other descendants, namely his son Philip (r. 4 BCE–34 CE), his grandson Herod Agrippa I (r. 41–44 CE), and his great-grandson Herod Agrippa II (last ruler of the Herodian dynasty, overthrown by his Jewish subjects in 66 CE), minted coins bearing the busts of the current emperors, images of themselves or their family members, and also pagan deities, temples, and motifs, which were probably intended for their non-Jewish subjects. Coins minted for use in Jewish territories, including those issued by the Roman prefects and procurators, were generally devoid of representational art.

An important set of coins, minted in both bronze and silver during the First Revolt against Rome by the rebels in Jerusalem, bore slogans reading “Freedom of Zion,” “Jerusalem the Holy,” and “To the Redemption of Zion.” The legends were inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew, a clear call to tradition, and the images alluded to the Temple and its cult, Jewish festivals, and agricultural symbols connected with Judaea. Some of these symbols were carried over from previous coinage, but others were innovations of the period. There was nothing that could be seen as explicitly anti-Roman; the focus was squarely on Jerusalem, Israel, and Zion. The coins also shunned references to Judea, as the province was then known. This marked an important ideological stance, reflecting the formation of a new identity for a newly independent state, unshackled from Roman political control. To this effect, the coins reset the calendar, with the first series, issued in 66 CE, carrying the legend “year 1.” The production of these coins ceased in 70 CE, when the Romans captured Jerusalem.

An analogous set of Jewish coins was minted several decades later under the authority of Simeon bar Kosiba—better known as Bar Kokhba—during the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (132–135 CE). Some of the issues carried the names Simeon and Eleazar “the high priest.” Significantly, many coins were struck over preexisting Roman coins, perhaps as an intentional affront to Roman authority. Once again, the Bar Kokhba coins reveal the driving aspirations and ideologies behind the Second Revolt, namely the hope for a future when Jerusalem would be reclaimed, the Temple rebuilt, and the cult reinstated. It is significant that, despite their nationalistic outlook, neither First nor Second Revolt coins depicted the menorah, which shows that this defining Jewish symbol had not yet achieved its central status in the early second century CE.