12 / 120
9
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.19 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. (TJC 22; L. Mildenberg, “Jehud: A Preliminary Study of the Provincial Coinage of Judaea,”
Essays Thompsn
pl. 22, 16 (this coin); Hendin 1069). Nicely toned.
About extremely fine.
$ 1,500
Purchased privately from NFA, August 1988.
Historical Notes on Lot 9, 10 and 11:
In the scroll (Megillah) of the Jewish holiday of Purim, the king Achashverus of Persia sent letters to the governors (ha’phechos) of
all his provinces, including Israel, to destroy the Jews as proposed by the wicked Haman. These coins are from Judea and noted on
them is Hezekia, , the governor (ha’phecha) of Judah. (Chapter 3:12) at the actual time of the Purim narrative.
10
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.18 g), ca. 333/2-302/1 BCE. Facing head with-
out beaded circular border (obscured?). Rev. ‘HPHH YHZQYH’ (Yehezqio the governor - Hezekiah), owl
standing right, head facing. (cf. TJC 22 (beaded border); cf. Hendin 1069 (same)). Particularly bold and
sharp legend. Toned. Very Fine / Extremely fine.
$ 1,500
ex Abraham Bromberg Collection, II (Superior, 10 December 1992), lot 319.
11
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.18 g), ca. 333/2-302/1 BCE. Facing head within
beaded circular border. Rev. ‘HPHH YHZQYH’ (Yehezqio the governor - Hezekiah; blundered legend),
owl standing right, head facing. (TJC 23; Hendin 1069a). Lightly toned. Very fine.
$ 1,000
Purchased privately from D. Hendin, May 1991.
12
Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Hezekiah. Silver 1/2 Ma’ah Obol (0.37 g), ca. 333/2-302/1 BCE. Head of chimaera
right. Rev. ‘YHWDH (Yehud), duck (or dove?) standing right, head turned to look back. (TJC 27; Hendin
1075). Toned. Very fine.
$ 1,500
Purchased privately at the NYINC, January 2002.
The obverse type of this coin has undergone a dramatic shift since it was first published by Meshorer. It was originally described as
the head of a horse, but Lorber and Gitler have shown that when the type is rotated a few degrees to the left it becomes recognizable
as a crude left-facing lion’s head. While the horse’s head seemed an odd iconographic choice, the lion’s head has parallels in Samar-
ian and Philistian coinage of the fourth century BCE. However, here the head clearly faces to the right, and Hendin refers to it as
the head of a chimaera. The bird on the reverse is often described as a duck, but it is almost certainly a dove - a common sacrificial
animal in the Jerusalem Temple.
11
12