| Q | Dear Mr. Hendin, I'm collecting different coin types issued or used in Eretz Israel. As part of this interesting study, I research numismatic literature about Jewish coins. I focus special attention on the unique silver 1/4 shequel of "shnat arba" (H-667) located in the British Museum. Recently, I searched www.coinarchives.com and found the following coin: Lot 415 The description says that this is a 3.5 gram lead Punic coin from North Africa. The amazing thing is that it looks very similar to the quarter shequel of "shnat arba" of First Jewish Revolt. Although the dies are slightly different, the types are very close. I suppose that one of two identifications are wrong; or both the coins are Jewish or both are Punic. Both possibilities are possible because Phoenician settlements in Carthage used the same proto-Hebrew script on their early coins. I'm wondering whether there is another explanaition for this phenomena. |
| A | Dear Friend: Here is the story and you can take it to the bank. The lead "coin" described at this website Lot 415 is a forgery of the Jewish War unique 1/4 shekel dated year 4. I have an identical example of this forgery in my personal collection of forgeries, which has just been donated to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, as a study collection. This coin is also listed in my book NOT KOSHER: Forgeries of Ancient Jewish and Biblical Coins as number F667.1. It is not surprising they would try to forge such a unique piece. On a recent visit to Israel last year, I was offered another forgery, this one even better and made from silver. The asking price was $10,000. If a genuine example of this coin came into the market I believe it would bring more than $100,000 in today's market. By the way, the original Hebrew script is NOT the same as the Phoenician script, although it is quite similar. David |
| Q | Hi David, I was just wondering something. Has anyone ever researched the number of dies used for each series of Biblical/Judaean coins? Thanks! JMW |
| A | Dear JMW: A very good question. This research has been done only by Leo Mildenberg for the Bar Kochba series, and it is rather complete. Nobody has done the research for the other series. But based on anecdotal evidence, it appears that there were many, many die pairs. It's quite difficult to find two coins struck from the exact same dies, except in the Bar Kochba series. An Israeli has done some work on the Jewish War silver coin (shekel) dies, however, it is part of ongoing research and is not ready to be published yet. Best regards, David |
| Q | Dear David, Are the Ar sela's (H.674,686-689,711-714) the only coins with a representation of the Jerusalem Temple on them? ie is the Herod Phillip coin with a Temple supposed to be the Jerusalem temple? Finally I have a Herod Antipas AE Year 34 (H516?) which looks silver which is unusual for a bronze, any comment? With many thanks in anticipation PD |
| A | Dear PD: Yes, the silver selas of Bar Kochba are the only ancient coins with a representation of the Jewish Jerusalem Temple on them. There are coins of Aelia Capitolina that depict the Jerusalem temple to Jupiter Capitolinas. The Herod Philip coins depict the temple at Paneas. Best wishes. David |