Mattathias Antigonus, 40-37 BCE. Æ-Prutah, Jerusalem; 1,17 g.

Traces of the palaeo-Hebrew inscription MTTYH KHN GDL (Mattathias the High Priest) around the Show-bread table (without breads)//Traces of the Greek Inscription BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΟΥ ([Coin] of the king Antigonos) around the Menorah. Hendin no. 1168; Meshorer, Treasury 220 no. 41.

Extremely rare. Very fine

Overbeck – Meshorer no. 78.

There is some disagreement as to whether these coins were minted at the beginning or at the end of Mattathias's reign, cf. I. Goldstein - J.-Ph. Fontanille, The Small Denominations of Mattathias Antigonus: Die Classification and Interpretations, INR 8, 2013, 55-71. For the symbolic meaning of the Menorah cf. Romanoff, Jewish Symbols on Ancient Jewish Coins, New York 1944 (1971), 33-37; J. Voß, Die Menora. Gestalt und Funktion des Leuchters im Tempel zu Jerusalem, Freiburg (CH)/Göttingen 1993, 69.