Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 106

The September 3-5, 2018 Pre-Long Beach Auction

Hasmonean Dynasty

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1117		John Hyrcanus I with Antiochus VII, AE Prutah. Jerusalem, under John Hyrcanus I, uncertain date (132/1-131/0 BC). Lily. Reverse: Upright anchor; date off flan. Hendin 1131; SC 2123; TJC pp. 30-1; \HGC 9, 1103. Nice green patina. Nearly Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $90 - 100 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $114
Lot 1118		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ 1/2 Prutah (0.81 g), 134-104 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehohanan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew) in two lines above and below palm branch. Reverse: Lily between two grain ears, within circular beaded border. Hendin 1134a; cf. TJC grp. C (all with monogram to left of lily). Rare. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $250 - 300 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. It is unclear whether the palm branch on this coin should be interpreted as a Jewish ritual object or as an emblem celebrating one or more of John Hyrcanus' many victories over the Seleukids and other neighboring peoples who were opposed to increasing Hasmonean power in the region. The lily on the reverse serves as the emblem of Jerusalem and perhaps a cipher for John Hyrcanus I himself. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $192
Lot 1119		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Judah Aristobulus I (Yehudah). Æ Prutah (1.97 g), 104-103 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehudah the High Priest and the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew; block-style letters) in five lines within wreath. Reverse: Double cornucopiae adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, within circular beaded border. TJC grp. U; Hendin 1143. Unusually choice on both sides. About Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $200 - 250 The Palm Desert Collection. The engraving of this emission of Judas Aristobulus I has linked it to early issues in the name of his brother and successor, Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE). It is remarkable that these evidently late coins still refer to Aristobulus I only as High Priest when Josephus clearly states that he was the first of the Hasmonaean rulers to claim the title of king. This coinage may perhaps stand as evidence against whatever textual source Josephus used to craft his rather melodramatic account of the rule of Aristobulus I. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $180
Lot 1120		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Judah Aristobulus I (Yehudah). Æ Prutah (1.89 g), 104-103 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehudah the High Priest and the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew; block-style letters) in five lines within wreath. Reverse: Double cornucopiae adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, within circular beaded border. TJC grp. U; Hendin 1143. The obverse legend in unusually clear. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $96
Lot 1121		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus. Æ Prutah (2.08 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem. Lily flanked by paleo-Hebrew 'Yehonatan the King'. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩ AΛEΞAN[]ΔPOY, inverted anchor within circle. Hendin 1148; TJC grp. N. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $180
Lot 1122		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus. Æ Prutah (2.06 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem. Lily flanked by paleo-Hebrew 'Yehonatan the King'. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩ AΛEΞAN[]ΔPOY, inverted anchor within circle. Hendin 1148; TJC grp. N. An unusually nice example. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Saslow 1980s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $120
Lot 1123		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.59 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew), lily, within circular beaded border. Reverse: BAΣIΛ[EΩ] AΛEΞANΔPOY, inverted anchor within circle. Hendin 1148; TJC grp. N. Brown patina. Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. This emission seems to look back to the Seleukid coinage struck by John Hyrcanus I for his ostensible overlord, the Seleukid king Antiochos VII Sidetes in 132-130 BCE. Both feature a lily on the obverse as a symbol of Jerusalem and an anchor as a badge of royal (Seleukid) authority. Here, however, Jannaeus seems to use it as a means of indicating his legitimacy as the successor to the now feeble and virtually extinct line of Seleukid kings. It is no accident that the Paleo-Hebrew legend appears alongside the Jewish emblem of the lily while the Greek legend is associated with the anchor. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $204
Lot 1124		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.98 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew) between the rays of star with eight rays, all within diadem. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩ[Σ AΛEΞANΔPOY], inverted anchor. Hendin 1150; TJC grp. K. Very sharp inscription. Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection. Easily the most well known of Alexander Jannaeus' prutah coinages, this issue boldly advertises his status as king while paying attention to Jewish prohibitions against graven images of living things which had evolved since the time of the Yehud coinages in the fourth century BCE. While contemporary Seleukid and Ptolemaic kings regularly had their diademed portraits shown on their coins, Jannaeus was forced to content himself with depicting a star - apparently as a cipher for his image - surrounded by a diadem. It is unclear whether the star was meant to give a messianic flavor to Jannaeus' somewhat brutal style of kingship, but the anchor reverse casts him as a successor to dying Seleukid power in the Southern Levant. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $132
Lot 1125		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (3.09 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew) between the rays of star with eight rays, all within diadem. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩ[Σ AΛEΞANΔPOY], inverted anchor. Hendin 1150; TJC grp. K. An outstanding example. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $132
Lot 1126		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus. Æ Prutah (1.48 g), 103-76 BCE. Jerusalem, RY 25 (80/79 BCE). 'King Alexander, year 25' (Aramaic) around star of eight rays. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY (only partly visible), inverted anchor within circle; in right field, dots representing the Greek numerals for the date (L KE). Hendin 1152; TJC grp. L. Unusually nice. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $114
Lot 1127		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 8 Prutot (13.11 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest and Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopiae. Reverse: BACΛOC (sic) [ANTIΓONOY], ivy wreath tied with ribbons. Hendin 1162; TJC 36. Lovely hard green patina. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $350 - 400 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Saslow 1980s. In 40 BCE, at the head of a Parthian army, Mattathias II Antigonus drove Herod the Great and his puppet, the Hasmonaean ethnarch, John Hyrcanus II, out of Jerusalem and was proclaimed king and High Priest by the Parthians and his Jewish supporters. Unfortunately, the wily Herod was not so easily defeated and returned in 39 BCE armed with recognition as the Roman client-king of Judaea. The hapless Mattathias II was ultimately defeated and crucified for his troubles, leaving Judaea to begin a new period in its troubled history under the often hated Herodian dynasty. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $180
Lot 1128		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 8 Prutot (14.14 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest and Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopiae. Reverse: [BACIΛEΩC] ANTIΓONOY, ivy wreath tied with ribbons. Hendin 1162; TJC 36. Dark green patina and unusually well centered. Very Fine. Estimate Value $250 - 300 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $330
Lot 1129		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos. Æ Prutah (1.69 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. Paleo-Hebrew 'Mattatayah' within wreath. Reverse: Double cornucopiae adorned with ribbons, ear of barley between the horns. Hendin 1164; TJC 39. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $100 - 140 The Palm Desert Collection Purchase from Superior 1970s-80s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $114
Lot 1130		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 4 Prutot (7.26 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest' (Paleo-Hebrew), cornucopiae tied with ribbons, decorated with vine-leaf and grapes. Reverse: [BACIΛEOC ANTIΓO/N] in three lines within wreath tied at left. Hendin 1163; TJC 37a. Reddish-brown patina. Fine. Estimate Value $150 - 200 The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $156
Lot 1131		10-piece lot of Hasmonean Dynasty AE prutah. Consists of coinage issued by: John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan) 135-104 BCE; Judah Aristobulus I (Yehudah) 104-103 BCE; Alexander Jannaeus 104-76 BCE. Each described and all are nice clear types grading Fine to Very Fine. Estimate Value $400 - UP The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $600
Lot 1132		12-piece group of Hasmonean Dynasty AE prutah. A select group, all well above avereage and each described. Includes some choice examples. Estimate Value $500 - UP The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $504
Lot 1133		12-piece Hasmonean Dynasty AE prutah group. A select group of AE prutah issued by the various Hasmonean kings. Each a well above avereage specimen, carefully selected and each described. Estimate Value $500 - UP The Palm Desert Collection. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $750
Lot 1134		4-piece Hasmonean Dynasty Alexander Jannaeus Lead Prutah Group. These were issued by Jannaeus ca. 79/78 BCE. Each is attributed to H-1155. Lead prutah (or token). Although crude, these are far nicer than usually seen. Each is described. Estimate Value $250 - UP The Palm Desert Collection. According to David Hendin, these represent the first Jewish tokens. Before the death of Jannaeus, the king adopted a more benevolent policy toward the rival Pharisees, and encouraged by his wife Salome Alexandria. One method for a ruler to ingratiate himself was to offer gifts to be redeemed for food or other commodities, this largess was called congiarium. The Roman emperors issued special tokens of bronze or even precious metals, but in the poor province of Judaea where only bronze coins were struck, lead may have served for this purpose. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold