Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 95

THE NEW YORK SALE

Hasmonean Dynasty

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 14		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ Prutah (1.49 g), 134-104 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehohanan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew) in four lines within wreath; above inscription, Greek letter A. Rev. Double cornucopiae adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, within circular beaded border. (TJG grp. A; Hendin 1132). Well centered with an attractive sandy-brown desert patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $150UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1991. This prutah features the distinctive types - a Paleo-Hebrew legend enclosed within a wreath on the obverse, and a double cornucopiae with poppy on the reverse - that would be associated with the Hasmonean dynasty from the time of John Hyrcanus I until the disastrous reign of Mattathias II Antigonus (40-37 BCE). It was even resurrected by Herod the Great as means of establishing his connection to the Hasmonean house and giving himself an air of legitimacy as its successor. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $915
Lot 15		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ 1/2 Prutah (0.63 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. Rev. Lily between two grain ears, within circular beaded border. Cf. (TJC grp. C (all with monogram to left of lily); Hendin 1134a). Nice reddish-brown patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $750UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1990. It is unclear whether the palm branch on this and the following 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 in-creasing 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	Unsold
Lot 16		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ 1/2 Prutah (0.59 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. Rev. Lily between two grain ears, within circular beaded border. (cf. TJC grp. C (all with monogram to left of lily); Hendin 1134a). Dark brown patina with sandy-green deposits. Extremely fine. Estimate $750UP Purchased privately, January 1988. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 17		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ Double Prutah (5.34 g), 134-104 BCE. Uncertain Samarian mint(?). 'Yehohanan the High Priest and Head of the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, within circular beaded border. Rev. Macedonian helmet with high crest and cheek guards right, within circular beaded border; in lower left field, monogram (off flan). (TJC grp. H, pl. 18, H1P (same rev. die); Hendin 1136). An important rarity. Dark green desert patina. Very fine. Estimate $7,000UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1987. The types of this rare coin depart dramatically from the usual iconographic repertoire of John Hyrcanus I. The parallel double cornucopia is distinct from the splayed double cornucopia of Hyrcanus' main coinage with its apparent associations with the priesthood of the Jerusalem Temple. Here the parallel cornucopiae and the Macedonian cavalry helmet may be derived from the roughly contemporary coinage of the Seleukid usurper, Alexander II Zabinas (128-122 BCE). Josephus (AJ 33.9.3) tells us that Hyrcanus and Zabinas were on friendly terms, presumably because both had an interest in defending their claims to power against the legitimate kings of the Seleukid dynasty. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $8,024
Lot 18		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). Æ Double Prutah (4.37 g), 134-104 BCE. Uncertain Samarian mint(?). 'Yehohanan the High Priest and Head of the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, within circular beaded border. Rev. Macedonian helmet with high crest and cheek guards right, within circular beaded border; in lower left field, monogram. (TJC grp. H; Hendin 1136). Very rare. Heavy earthen-brown patina. About very fine. Estimate $5,000UP Purchased privately, August 1993. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $9,735
Lot 19		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Judah Aristobulus I (Yehudah). Æ Prutah (2.28 g), 104 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehudah the High Priest and the Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew; block-style letters) in five lines within wreath. Rev. Double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, within circular beaded border. (TJC grp. U; Hendin 1143). Attractive sandy-brown desert patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $300UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1991. The engraving of this emission of Judah Aristobulus I has linked it to early issues in the name of his brother and successor, Alexander Jannaeus (104-76 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 $649
Lot 20		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ 1/2 Prutah (1.28 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew), upright palm branch, within circular beaded border. Rev. Lily, within circular beaded border. (TJC grp. O; Hendin 1147). An amazing example with every letter discernible. Very attractive desert-green patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $2,500UP Purchased privately, October 1994. The palm branch and lily types of this rare issue of Alexander Jannaeus take their inspiration from an earlier coinage of his father, John Hyrcanus I, probably as a means of visually indicating his legitimacy. Legitimacy was a perennial problem for Jannaeus, who was constantly at violent odds with the Pharisees who challenged his right to be High Priest. When they pelted him with fruit at the Feast of Tabernacles he responded by crucifying hundreds of his political opponents. This led to a slow-burning civil war between Jannaeus and his subjects that dragged on for six years. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $2,832
Lot 21		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.35 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew), lily, within circular beaded border. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, inverted anchor within circle. (TJC grp. N; Hendin 1148). Dark green patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $250UP Purchased privately, May 1991. This emission seems to look back to the Seleukid coinage struck at Jerusalem 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 $224
Lot 22		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (1.85 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew), lily, within circular beaded border. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, inverted anchor within circle. (TJC grp. N; Hendin 1148). Black patina. Extremely fine. Estimate $250UP Ex Moreira Collection, Part 1 (Superior, 31 May-1 June 1988), lot 1562. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 23		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.11 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew) between the rays of star with eight rays, all within diadem. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY,inverted anchor. (TJC grp. K; Hendin 1150). Lovely sandy light green patina. Rare in such high grade. Superb extremely fine. Estimate $300UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1991. 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 $472
Lot 24		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (4.02 g), 104-76 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Yehonatan the King' (Paleo-Hebrew) between the rays of star with eight rays, all within diadem. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, inverted anchor. (TJC grp. K; Hendin 1150a). An extremely heavy example. Light desert green patina. Superb extremely fine. Estimate $200UP Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1991. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $212
Lot 25		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 8 Prutot (17.88 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest and Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopiae. Rev. [BACIΛEΩC] ANTIΓONOY, ivy wreath tied with ribbons. (TJC 36; Hendin 1162). Attractive green patina with light earthen overlays. Unusually choice for this issue. Choice very fine. Estimate $600UP Purchased privately, January 1988. In 40 BCE, at the head of a Parthian army, Mattathias 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 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 $1,888
Lot 26		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 8 Prutot (14.11 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest and Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopiae. Rev. [BACIΛEΩ]C ANTI[ΓONOY], ivy wreath tied with ribbons. (TJC 36; Hendin 1162). Dark desert-green patina. Another outstanding example. Choice very fine. Estimate $600UP Ex Superior (3 December 1987), lot 559. The 8-prutah and the following 4-prutah denominations of Mattathias Antigonus take their typological cues from the coinages of earlier Hasmonaean rulers as a means of presenting him as a legitimate ruler. The cornucopiae and wreath types look back to the heady days of John Hyrcanus I (134-104 BCE) and the foundation of the fully autonomous Hasmonaean Jewish state while the Paleo-Hebrew legend identifying him as High Priest and the Greek legend naming him as king follow the pattern established by Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE). View details and enlarged photos	Realized $496
Lot 27		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 4 Prutot (7.69 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest' (Paleo-Hebrew), cornucopiae tied with ribbons, decorated with vine-leaf and grapes. Rev. BACIΛ/EΩC AN/TIΓON in three lines within wreath tied at left. (TJC 37a; Hendin 1163). Boldly contrasting dark brown and sandy green patina. Choice very fine. Estimate $400UP Purchased privately from H. Kriendler, October 1996. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $944
Lot 28		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ Prutah (1.89 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah' (Paleo-Hebrew) within wreath; all within circular beaded border. Rev. Double cornucopiae adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns, within circular beaded border. (Hendin 1167) Very Rare. Dark green-brown patina with light earthen deposits. Choice very fine. Estimate $800UP Purchased privately from D. Hendin at the NYINC, December 1990. This prutah of Mattathias Antigonus consciously looks back to the issues of John Hyrcanus I and other Hasmonaean ancestors as a means of casting himself as the legitimate king of the Jews when Herod and the Romans sought to remove him and bring an inglorious end to the Hasmonaean dynasty. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $767
Lot 29		Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ Prutah (1.60 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. Trace of 'Mattatayah the High Priest' (Paleo-Hebrew), showbread table. Rev. [BA]ΣIΛE[ΩΣ ANTIΓONOY], seven-branched menorah. (TJC 42; Hendin 1168). A great rarity and the only ancient Jewish coin de-picting the menorah. Very fine. Estimate $25,000UP Purchased privately from D. Hendin at the NYINC, December 1988. Perhaps the most desirable of all of Mattathias Antigonus' coins are his prutot depicting a table and a seven-branched menorah. These are generally agreed to represent elements of the furnishings of the Jerusalem Temple. A similar menorah is shown being carried off by Roman troops on the Arch of Titus in Rome and the table is generally thought to be the show-bread table. These explicit religious types appear at this time as Mattathias attempted to defend his failing regime against the Idumaean Herod and his Roman supporters, both of whom threatened Jewish religious custom. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $24,780