A bronze half prutah of John Hyrcanus

A bronze half prutah of John Hyrcanus
Obv.: Palm branch (lulav) with a small ribbon tied at top, flanked by paleo-Hebrew inscription: Yehohanan the High Priest and council of the Jews. Rev.: Lily flower between two leaves. 1.03 grams, 12¼ mm, axis 9. For similar examples see: Ya’akov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins (New York 2001), pl. 24 sub-group J. After the ‘Maccabaean Revolt’, the Hasmonaean kingdom was founded which lasted for just under a hundred years. The alphabet employed was not the square Hebrew script current at the time, but the script from the First Temple period, implying a connection between the Hasmoneans and the First Temple. The symbols employed show a clear Hellenising trend.