Description

This is one of the low value bronze Judean coins commonly called a widow’s mite. Mite is the 1611 King James Bible translation for the Greek λεπτον, or lepton. The most common of these types were struck during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, one of the last Jewish kings before the Roman annexation of Judaea. Most leptons and prutahs (slightly larger than leptons) were very crudely made, usually off center on irregular flans (cast metal discs). Both the leptons and prutahs are called star anchor types. The obverse features an anchor within a circle, and the king’s name. The reverse depicts an 8-rayed star. These small coins were struck in Jerusalem from the time of the earliest Maccabees, and by their successor, King Herod the Great. These coins were used in Jerusalem until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
An Exact Replica
BC-15