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.
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| Realized $24,780 |
