Israel

Numismatic
Research
11 | 2016

Published by
The Israel Numismatic Society
Israel Numismatic Research
Published by the Israel Numismatic Society

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Danny Syon, Ilan Shachar, Oren Tal

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© The Israel Numismatic Society, Jerusalem 2016

Israel Numismatic Research
Published by the Israel Numismatic Society
Volume 11 2016
Contents

3 Yehoshua Zlotnik: Samarian Coin Types and Their Denominations

11 Haim Gitler and Oren Tal: Reclassifying Persian-Period Philistian Coins:
Some New Identifications
23 Alexander Fantalkin, Mati Johananoff and Shahar Krispin: Persian-Period
Philistian Coins from Ashdod-Yam
29 Daniel Wolf: New Observations on the Ptolemaic Bronze Coinage of Tyre
47 Edward E. Cohen: Order of the Date Numerals on the Sheqels of Tyre
63 Donald T. Ariel: Which Side is Up? The Jerusalem Mint and its Bevelled
Coins
95 Nathan W. Bower, David B. Hendin and Stephen E. Burt: A Thermomechanical
Study of Judean Prutot Minting Methods
111 David B. Hendin and Jean-Philippe Fontanille: A Thunderbolt and Laurel
on a Herod Philip Coin
119 David B. Hendin and Ronen Bachar: An Agrippa I Coin Reattributed to
Gaba
127 Yoav Farhi and Boris Bessarabov: A Lead Coin from the Bar Kokhba Revolt
135 Nitzan Amitai-Preiss and Ronen Bachar: An Arab-Byzantine Coin of Yubna
(Iamnia)
141 David Woods: Abila: A Phantom Arab-Byzantine Mint
153 David J. Wasserstein and Ariel Berman: A Hoard of Early ‘Abbasid Dirhams
from Sepphoris
163 Robert Kool and Uzi ‘Ad: A Late Twelfth-Century Silver Purse Hoard from
Ibelin
181 David J. Wasserstein: The Coinage of the Islamic State
205 Abbreviations
 ABBREVIATIONS
AJC Y. Meshorer. Ancient Jewish Coinage. Dix Hills, NY 1982
AJN American Journal of Numismatics
BMC e.g., BMC Arab.: G.F. Hill. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. London
1922
BMCO e.g., BMCO 1: S. Lane-Poole. The Coins of the Eastern Khaleefehs in the British Museum. Catalogue
of the Oriental Coins in the British Museum 1. London 1875
CH Coin Hoards
CHL Y. Meshorer, G. Bijovsky and W. Fischer-Bossert. Coins of the Holy Land: The Abraham and Marian
Sofaer Collection at the American Numismatic Society and the Israel Museum. Ed. by D. Hendin and
A. Meadows. New York 2013
CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
CNP e.g., L. Kadman. The Coins of Akko Ptolemais (Corpus Nummorum Palaestinensium IV). Jerusalem
1961
CRE e.g., H. Mattingly. The Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum I. Augustus to Vitellius.
London 1923
DOC e.g., P. Grierson. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the
Whittemore Collection 3. Leo III to Nicephorus III 717–1081. Washington, D.C. 1973
IEJ Israel Exploration Journal
IG Inscriptiones Graecae
IGCH M. Thompson, O. Mørkholm and C.M. Kraay. An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards. New York 1973
INJ Israel Numismatic Journal
INR Israel Numismatic Research
LA Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Liber Annuus
LRBC e.g., P.V. Hill and J.P.C. Kent. Part 1: The Bronze Coinage of the House of Constantine, A.D. 324–46.
In Late Roman Bronze Coinage (A.D. 324–498). London 1965. Pp. 4–40
MIB e.g., W. Hahn. Von Anastasius I. bis Justinianus I (491–565). Moneta Imperii Byzantini 1. Österreische
Akademie der Wissenschaften Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Denkscriften 109. Veröffentlichungen
der Numismatischen Kommission 1. Vienna 1973
MIBE W. Hahn. Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire (Anastasius I–Justinian I, 491–565)
(Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte der Universität Wien 6). Vienna
2000
MIBEC W. Hahn and M. Metlich. Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire Continued (Justin II—Revolt of
the Heraclii, 565–610). (Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte der
Universität Wien 13). Vienna 2009
MN American Numismatic Society Museum Notes
NC Numismatic Chronicle
NCirc. Numismatic Circular
NNM Numismatic Notes and Monographs
RIC e.g., C.H.V. Sutherland. The Roman Imperial Coinage I. From 31 BC to AD 69. London 1984
RN Revue Numismatique
RPC e.g., A. Burnett, M. Amandry and I. Carradice. From Vespasian to Domitian (AD 69–96). Roman
Provincial Coinage 2. London 1999
RRC M.H. Crawford. Roman Republican Coinage. Cambridge 1974
SC e.g., A. Houghton and C. Lorber. Seleucid Coins. A Comprehensive Catalogue. Part I. Seleucus I
through Antiochus III. New York, Lancaster, PA-London 2002
SICA e.g., S. Album and T. Goodwin. Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean 1: The Pre-Reform Coinage
of the Early Islamic Period. Oxford 2002
SNAT e.g., L. Ilisch. Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tübingen–Palästina IVa Bilād aš-Šām I. Tübingen 1993
SNG Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (with suffix as necessary, e.g. SNG Cop.)
SNR Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau
TINC Transactions of the International Numismatic Congress
TJC Y. Meshorer. A Treasury of Jewish Coins from the Persian Period to Bar Kochba. Jerusalem-Nyack 2001
ZfN Zeitschrift für Numismatik

205
DAVID B. HENDIN AND JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE
THUNDERBOLT AND LAUREL ON HEROD PHILIP COIN

A Thunderbolt and Laurel on a

Herod Philip Coin
David B. Hendin Jean-Philippe Fontanille
American Numismatic Society
hendin@numismatics.org jp.fontanille@sympatico.ca

Abstract
A clear thunderbolt motif is newly described on an obverse die of a coin of Herod Philip (the
tetrarch). A thunderbolt with a laurel branch suggests a symbol of protection and honor toward
Tiberius and the deified Augustus. In addition, use of this die in four separate years of minting
may offer clues regarding the nature of minting in the ancient southern Levant.

Herod Philip (the tetrarch), 4 BCE–34 CE, was the first Herodian ruler to issue
provincial coins that reflected his status as a client king of Rome. In the tradition
of the Hasmoneans, neither Philip’s father Herod I nor his older half-brothers
Archelaus and Antipas issued any coins with graven images.1 Philip’s tetrarchy
consisted of territories formerly ruled by Zenodorus of Ituraea: Trachonitis, Auranitis,
Batanaea, and Gaulanitis — where Philip made his capital, at Paneas. The area had
a relatively small Jewish population (Ciecieląg 1997:67; Fontanille 2011:115) and
“this fact finds notable expression of Philip’s coins. He gave them an international
and pagan character in the belief that this was in keeping with the region” (TJC:85).
Most Roman provincial coins at this time depicted the emperor (or one of his
family members) on the obverse and another image on the reverse, occasionally
the local ruler. Philip’s coins follow these patterns and depict obverse images of
Augustus, Livia, Tiberius and Philip himself,2 the first of a Jewish royal dynasty
to use the image of his own face on a coin (GBC:257; Fontanille 2011). His
descendants, Agrippa I, Aristobulus of Chalcis, Herod of Chalcis and Agrippa II,
are all depicted on coins.3

1 Herod I issued a small coin depicting an eagle (TJC:244, No. 66.; GBC:242, No.
1190), and it is possible, if not likely, that he did not consider this a graven image
(Ariel and Fontanille 2102:115–119).
2 The first coins Philip issued from the Paneas mint in 1/2 CE carried his bust on one
side and the bust of Augustus on the other (TJC:228, No. 95; GBC:258, No. 1219). It
may have been patterned after a coin of Zenodorus struck in 32/31 BCE (RPC I:663,
No. 4775) [or 26/5 BCE (Herman 2006:71, No. 17.1)] at Chalcis ad Libanum with his
bust on one side and the bust of Augustus on the other.
3 Although Agrippa II’s bust appears only on coin of his father Agrippa I (TJC:231, No.
119), and not on his own coins.

INR 11 (2016): 111–117 111

112 DAVID B. HENDIN AND JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE

The various royal images used on Philip’s coins are mostly conventional. One
coin (TJC:229, No. 100; GBC:261, No. 1229) depicts jugate busts of Tiberius and
Livia. On another, the field in front of the head of Tiberius is decorated with a
laurel branch (TJC:229–230, Nos. 102, 105, 106, 109; GBC:262, No. 1233). The
laurel branch has never been discussed in detail; our observation of a thunderbolt
beneath the head of Tiberius on one obverse die of this coin provides an opportunity
to do so (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Coin dated year 34 (30/1 CE), with obverse clearly depicting a thunderbolt beneath the
head of Tiberius
Obv. TIBEPIOC CEBACTOC KAICAP Head of Tiberius r.; in r. field, laurel branch; beneath
head, thunderbolt
Rev. EΠI ΦIΛIΠΠOY TETPAPXOY Tetrastyle temple (the Augusteum of Paneas?) with lily-
topped columns on low platform, dot in pediment; L–Λ–Δ between columns
Æ, 0, 6.32 g, 18 mm.
TJC:229, No. 106; cf. GBC:262, No. 1233 obverse die.

Our study of the coins struck from this obverse die reveals that numerous previously
published examples show traces of the thunderbolt. Madden’s drawing (1864:102)
(Fig. 2) depicts a well-centered coin with a bare head of Tiberius, a laurel branch in
front of him and the top of a thunderbolt beneath his head. Madden’s drawing was
made by copying a coin of the same obverse die as the coin in Fig. 1. Yet neither
Madden nor any subsequent numismatist described this thunderbolt.

Fig. 2. Madden’s drawing of the same obverse combined with a reverse of year 37 (33/4 CE;
Madden 1864:102, No. 3), showing laurel branch and traces of the thunderbolt
 THUNDERBOLT AND LAUREL ON HEROD PHILIP COIN 113

We have identified 44 examples4 of Herod Philip coins with this obverse die combined
with 16 different reverses. They date: 26/7 CE (LΛ=year 30; one example)5; 29/30
CE (LΛΓ=year 33; ×2; 1 reverse die identified; Fig. 36); 30/1 CE (LΛΔ=year 34;
×18; 8 reverse dies identified; Pl. 7); and 33/4 CE (LΛZ=year 37; ×20; 7 reverse
dies identified; Pl. 8). Most of these coins are either poorly preserved or were struck
slightly off center, with the missing portion of the thunderbolt design partly or
completely missing beneath the emperor’s head (http://www.menorahcoinproject.
org/phi-x.htm). The coin illustrated in Fig. 1 has a clear and complete thunderbolt.

Fig. 3. Connection table for coins dated year 33 (or 30)7

Philip’s mint is also known to have struck coins with the portrait of Tiberius
without laurel and thunderbolt, and the tetrastyle temple reverse, beginning in
the year 16 (12/3 CE), the first year that Philip’s mint used a portrait of Tiberius
instead of Augustus (TJC:228, No. 99; GBC:259, No. 1223). At least one obverse
die was also struck with temple reverses for year 19 (15/6 CE; TJC:229, Nos.
101a–d; GBC:259, No. 1224) as well as year 30 (26/7 CE; TJC:229, No. 102a;
GBC:260, No. 1225). The laurel/thunderbolt obverse is not known to have been
combined with any reverses of years 16 or 19. In addition, as mentioned, there is

4 Only 41 of them are identifiable as to the date.

5 This is the Bank of Israel specimen, shown as TJC:229, No. 102. The reverse die of
this coin is clearly the same die as TJC:229, No. 105 dated year 33. It is not clear
whether the coin was struck first as a coin of the year 30 and was later re-engraved
adding the letter Γ or whether the die was originally cut as a year 33 die. On this
particular specimen, however, the area of the die where the Γ later appears was filled
with grease or other dirt when the coin was struck.
6 The connection tables and composites in Fig. 3 and Pls. 7–8 were created by Fontanille.
7 The year 30 coin is assumed in this table to be a coin of year 33, but we add here that
year 30 remains a possibility (see note 4), as we have seen no other coins struck with
any obverse together with this matching reverse without a Γ.
114 DAVID B. HENDIN AND JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE

one possible example where it combines with a year 30 reverse, but except for this
one coin (see note 3) all other year 30 coins of Philip have a completely different
reverse and an obverse bust of Tiberius without the laurel and thunderbolt (e.g.,
(TJC:229, No. 102a) .
Our research shows that the single obverse with laurel and thunderbolt (RPC
I:681, No. 4944) was first used in the year 33 (or possibly as early as 30, see
above). The same die was re-used in during the years 34 and 37. Other obverse
dies depicting Tiberius, without the laurel and thunderbolt, were not used on any
coins struck after year 33?
Why is it that these plain dies were not used again, nor were new plain dies
engraved? We can only speculate that either (1) the plain dies without thunderbolt
and laurel were damaged and discarded (although we have seen no evidence of
coins struck with serious damage to these obverse dies), or (2) this ‘special’ obverse
die was preferred over the others.
While it is not the intention of this article to fully describe and discuss the reverse
dies of the tetrastyle temple coins of Herod Philip, we note that the coins with
the Tiberius obverse with laurel and thunderbolt have two distinctive engraving
styles for their reverses. The reverses of the coins dated years 30(?), 33, and 37
are crude, almost sketchy in their designs, while the reverse of the coins dated to
year 34 are invariably more sophisticated.8
In a small tetrarchy such as Philip’s it seems possible that there were no local
celators at all and when new coin dies were needed, the work was taken to another,
larger town where celators would be hired for this purpose. Alternately, it is also
possible that itinerant celators, with their quite portable tools for making coins,
moved from one town to another and created dies only on order.9 Yet a third
possibility is that local artisans were occasionally called upon to create coin dies
when professional celators were not available, and they might have been responsible
for the crude, sketchy reverses.

DISCUSSION
Some other provincial coins struck under Tiberius depict a thunderbolt on either
the obverse or the reverse, although they do not seem to be particularly relevant
parallels. Thunderbolts on the obverse appear on Tiberius’ coins showing the
deified Augustus in Colonia Romula (RPC I:80, No. 73; SNG Cop. 421), Emertia

8 For example, note the crude style inscriptions as well as column capitals that appear
as simple Doric columns, with a decoration of dots for years 30, 33, and 37, but more
elaborate lily-shaped capitals on the coins of year 34.
9 This parallels the itinerant mosaic artists and craftsmen in the ancient Levant. We also
note that Kraft (1972) and Johnston (1982–1983) have discussed similar aspects of die
engraving and minting in Asia Minor.
 THUNDERBOLT AND LAUREL ON HEROD PHILIP COIN 115

(RPC I:85, Nos. 121–122), both in Spain, and in Panormus in Sicily (RPC I:172,
No. 644). A thunderbolt is shown on the reverse of a coin of Olbia in Cilicia (RPC
I:565, No. 3731). Geographically closer but chronologically more distant, from
Nabataea is a recently described silver drachm (4.52 g), from Obodas’ tenth year
(21/0 BCE) with an obverse depicting a bearded head of Zeus with a thunderbolt
beneath his neck (Barkay 2015:437, Fig. 9).
An imperial bronze as struck in Rome under Tiberius depicts a deified bust of
Augustus on the obverse and a winged thunderbolt on the reverse (RIC I [rev.]:99,
No. 83). A second type, also struck at Rome, depicts a thunderbolt in front of the
head of the deified Augustus, and a reverse of a female figure seated to the right (RIC
I [rev.]:99, Nos 71–73). The thunderbolt, among other objects such as oak wreath,
star, and patera were intended as simple and universal symbols (RIC I [rev.]:90–91)
and were also clear references to the entry of Augustus to the pantheon of gods.
In general, lightning or more specifically the thunderbolt symbol — a conflation
of lightning and the clap of thunder immediately following it — is related to the
god Zeus/Jupiter. “The Greeks and Romans respected lightning so much that they
considered any point struck by lightning as holy and built their temples on these
sites” (Cooray 2015:2).
The coins of Herod Philip with the laurel and thunderbolt appear to be the singular
pairing of these two objects on an ancient coin struck under Tiberius. Suetonius
provides us with insightful evidence about the double depiction in stating: “Tiberius
was somewhat neglectful of the gods and of religious matters.” At the same time,
Seutonius wrote that Tiberius was “addicted to astrology and firmly convinced that
everything was in the hands of fate, he was nevertheless immoderately afraid of
thunder. Whenever the sky was lowering, he always wore a laurel wreath, because
it is said that kind of leaf is not blasted by lightning” (Suet. Tib. 69).10 The laurel’s
immunity to lightning was a widespread belief at the time, Pliny the Elder (23–79
CE) claimed, “Among things that grow in the ground [lightning] does not strike
a laurel bush” (Plin. HN II:LVI).
As a result of Josephus’ rather laconic description of Herod Philip’s life, including
the period of his rule as tetrarch, it is no surprise that we are unable to find a specific
local context for the depiction of these motifs on the tetrarch’s coins. Considering
Suetonius’ remarks on Tiberius’ astraphobia (fear of thunder and lightning), and
the emperor’s faith in the protection afforded by a laurel wreath, we can conjecture

10 Suetonius also relates a lightning story from the time of Augustus associated with
the latter’s death and divinity: ”… the first letter of his name was melted from the
inscription on one of his statues by a flash of lightning; this was interpreted to mean
that he would live only a hundred days from that time, the number indicated by the
letter C, and that he would be numbered with the gods, since aesar (that is, the part
of the name Caesar which was left) is the word for god in the Etruscan tongue” (Suet.
Aug. 97.2)
116 DAVID B. HENDIN AND JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE

that Philip was somehow aware of this personality trait of Tiberius’, and chose to
employ it on his coins.
Just a few years before the laurel and thunderbolt coins were minted, coins
were struck in nearby Judea dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth years of
Tiberius (30/1 and 31/2 CE). A lituus, a crooked staff used by Roman augurs,
is depicted on one side. Using the lituus, a ‘college of augurs’ was charged with
determining the opinions of the gods in various affairs. They did this by observing
three classes of objects from the sky, of which one was lightning.11 Tiberius has
also been connected to the college of augurs.12 This could provide another albeit
oblique connection between the thunderbolt on Philip’s coins depicting Tiberius,
and iconography during the emperor’s reign in the southern Levant.
The Judean coin is generally attributed to the prefect Pontius Pilate (26–36
CE), but because of the lituus’ clearly pagan associations, it is “unclear whether
this was an intentional anti-Jewish act or was due to [Pilate’s] ignorance of Jewish
rituals” (TJC:171).
Hoffeditz suggested that Pilate may have used the paired symbols of the lituus
and the simpulum on his coins because of his “fear of appearing disloyal to Tiberius,
and thus he sought a visible means of displaying his devotion to the emperor through
the worship of Augustus” in the wake of recent enforcements by the emperor of
the treason law (maiestas) in 27 CE (Hoffeditz 2006:88).
In conclusion, we have identified a thunderbolt paired with a laurel branch
on one obverse die used to strike the last of the middle-denomination bronze
coins of Herod Philip. Among the Roman provincial coins struck under Tiberius,
this pairing is unique and may derive from some knowledge, on Philip’s part,
of Tiberius’ personal fear of lightning, known to us from works of the historian
Suetonius who lived a century after that emperor’s reign. The two symbols may
be viewed as ingratiating and positive protective gestures toward both Tiberius
and the deified Augustus.

REFERENCES
Ariel D.T. and Fontanille J.-P. 2012. The Coins of Herod: A Modern Analysis and Die
Classification (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 79). Leiden–Boston.
Barkay R. 2015. New Aspects of Nabataean Coins. In Trade Routes & Seafaring in the Ancient
Near East: Idumeans and the Nabateans (ARAM 27/1&2). Oxford. Pp. 431–439.

11 The other two were meteors and birds (Prinz 1977).

12 A bronze statue of Tiberius from 37 CE, wearing a ring inscribed with a lituus has
been displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2013–2014 (http://www.getty.edu/art/
exhibitions/tiberius/).
 THUNDERBOLT AND LAUREL ON HEROD PHILIP COIN 117

Ciecieląg J. 1997. Some Remarks on the Coinage of Herod Philip. Notae Numismaticae-
Zapiski Numizmatyczne 2:66–82.
Cooray V. 2015. An Introduction to Lightning. Dordrecht.
GBC: D. Hendin. Guide to Biblical Coins. (5th ed.). Nyack 2010.
Fontanille J.-P. 2011. Herod Philip: The First Jewish Portrait. INR 6:205–119.
Herman D. 2006. The Coins of the Itureans. INR 1:51–72.
Hoffeditz D.M. 2006. Divus of Augustus: The Influence of the Trials of Maiestas upon Pontius
Pilate’s Coins. INR 1:87–96.
Johnston A. 1982–1983. Die Sharing in Asia Minor: The View from Sardis. INJ 6–7:59–78.
Kraft K. 1972. Das System der kaiserzeitlichen Münzprägung in Kleinasien: Materialien und
Entwürfe (Istanbuler Forschungen 29). Berlin.
Madden F.W. 1864. History of Jewish Coinage, and of Money in the Old and New Testament.
London.
Prinz H. 1977. Lightning in History. In R.H. Golde ed. Lightning I. London-New York-San
Francisco. Pp. 1–20.
 PLATE 7

HENDIN AND FONTANILLE

PLATE 8

HENDIN AND FONTANILLE