Ancient Judaea 4 Prutot Coin, 40 BC NGC Antigonus II Mattathias, Antigonus the Hasmonean

Ancient Judaea

2000 Year Old Copper 4 Prutot Coin

From the Year 40 to 37 BC

A 4 Prutot of Antigonus the Hasmonean(Antigonus II Mattathias). Dating it to the year 40 to 37 BCE

Judaea was a Roman province which incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 6 CE, extending over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Judea. The name Judaea, like the similar Judea, was derived from the Iron Age Kingdom of Judah, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory.

Antigonus II Mattathias, also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean (died 37 BCE) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. A puppet king installed by the Parthians, he was the son of King Aristobulus II of Judea. In 37 BCE Herod handed him over to the Romans for execution, after Antigonus's three-year reign during which he led the Jews' fierce struggle for independence against the Romans.

The prutah was an ancient copper coin of the Second Temple period of Israel with low value. A loaf of bread in ancient times was worth about 10 prutot (plural of prutah). One prutah was also worth two lepta (singular lepton), which was the smallest denomination minted by the kings of the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties.

Prutot were also minted by the procurators of Roman Judaea, and later were minted by the Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War (sometimes called "Masada coins").