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Magnificent Hezekiah. Silver
½
Ma’ah Obol, ca. 375-332
BCE
7
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.22 g), ca. 375-332 BCE. Youthful male head left.
Rev. ‘YHZQYH’ (Yehezqio - Hezekiah), forepart of winged and horned lynx left. (TJC 24; Hendin 1065).
Attractive find patina. Well centered and sharply struck. Toned. Superb extremely fine.
$ 2,000
Purchased privately at the NYINC, January 2002.
This remarkable coin names Hezekiah, who is usually identified as a High Priest of Jerusalem serving as governor of Judaea in the
late Persian period. Lorber and Gitler have argued that the use of the Persic weight standard for this issue seems to support this
dating, although it is also possible that it was struck shortly after the conquest of the region by Alexander the Great in 333/2 BC.
Subsequent issues of Hezekiah feature the Attic standard favored by Alexander, but the young male head on this Persic-weight issue
seems out of place in the late Persian period. Could it be a local portrait of Alexander himself? The peculiar lynx-griffin type of the
reverse reflects local taste - similar creatures occur on Philistian and Samarian coinages of the fourth century BCE.
Marvelous Yehud Hezekiah Silver
½
Ma’ah Obol, ca. 333/2-302/1
BCE
8
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.22 g), ca. 333/2-302/1 BCE. Facing head within
beaded circular border. Rev. ‘HPHH YHZQYH’ (Yehezqio the governor - Hezekiah), owl standing right,
head facing; in lower right field, Greek letter A. (cf. TJC 22 (without Greek A); cf. Hendin 1069 (same)).
Outstanding. Toned. Extremely fine.
$ 1,500
Purchased privately, December 2001.
In contrast to the earlier issue of Hezekiah in this sale, this one and its two fellows were struck to the Attic standard favored for the
coinages of Alexander the Great. This abandonment of the former Persic standard has led to the conclusion that they postdate the
Macedonian conquest of Judaea. The coins of the Macedonian period also give Hezekiah his official title as
ha pecha,
the governor.
The reverse type depicts the Athenian owl, perhaps partly to signal the new use of the Attic weight standard, but also looking back
to the traditions of the Yehud coinage of the Persian period.