Herod the Great, 40/37-4 BCE, Æ-Double Prutah, year 3 = 40 BCE, Samaria; 2,9 g.

Poppy head (or pomegranate?)//HPΩΔΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ around winged caduceus. Hendin no. 1171; Lykke 237 fig. 37; Meshorer, Treasury 221 no. 46.

Nearly very fine

Overbeck - Meshorer no. 84.

Neither the identification of the plant alluded to on the obv. nor its exact meaning is clear. There is some reason to believe that the plant, whether it is identified as a poppy capsule or a pomegranate, may have to do with a Samarian cult in honour of Demeter and Persephone; cf. the discussion of Lykke 60-63.