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PERSIAN PERIOD - SAMARIA AND JUDAH
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Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Silver Gerah (0.45 g), ca. 375-332 BCE. Head of Athena right, wearing Attic helmet
decorated with olive wreath. Rev. ‘YHD’ (Yehud), owl standing right, head facing; in upper left field, lily.
(TJC 4; Hendin 1050). Toned with some encrustation on the obverse. Very fine.
$ 500
Purchased privately from D. Hendin, August 1988.
A Judaean imitation of the internationally recognized types of Athenian coinage, but with the usual olive spray of the reverse con-
verted into the lily symbol of Jerusalem. The inordinately large olive leaves on Athena’s helmet foreshadow the crenellated crown of
later issues featuring the head of the Persian Great King (or debased Athena?).
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Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Silver Gerah (0.44 g), ca. 375-332 BCE. Head of Athena right, wearing Attic helmet
decorated with olive wreath. Rev. ‘YHD’ (Yehud; retrograde), owl standing left, head facing; in upper right
field, olive spray. (TJC 5; Hendin 1051). Attractive dark find patina. Toned. Extremely fine.
$ 1,500
ex Dr. Jonathan A. Herbst Collection (Superior, 8-9 December 1995), lot 1063.
This coin closely imitates the Athena and owl types of contemporary Athenian coinage, but depicts the owl standing left and the
olive spray to right in contrast to the usual right-facing bird and olive spray in the upper left corner. This reversal suggests that the
reverse die was produced by an inexperienced engraver who failed to cut the mirror image of the intended final design. He has also
erroneously cut the legend so that it appears retrograde on the coin.
Delightful Yehud Silver Gerah, ca. 375-332
BCE
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Judaea, Yehud (Judah). Silver Gerah (0.45 g), ca. 375-332 BCE. Head of Persian king wearing jagged crown
right; below the head, a circular motif due to a clashed die error. Rev. ‘YHD’ (Yehud), owl standing right,
head facing; in upper left field, lily. (TJC 6; Hendin 1057). Toned. Extremely fine.
$ 2,000
Purchased privately from H. Kriendler at the NYINC, December 1987.
This coin combines types related to the two competing influences on Judaean political and monetary affairs in the fourth century
BCE. The obverse features a stylized head wearing a crenellated crown - almost certainly intended to represent the Persian Great
King who ruled over Judaea as the administrative district of Yehud - and an owl copied from contemporary coins of Athens, whose
coins had become an international symbol of good money despite frequent Athenian conflict with Persian interests. Here, the olive
spray that normally accompanies the owl on official Athenian coins has been transformed into a lily, the emblem of Jerusalem.
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